New Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, echoing head coach Mike Tomlin’s comments throughout the offseason, said back in June that free agent signee Russell Wilson was in pole position to open the 2024 campaign as Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback. Trade acquisition Justin Fields, therefore, would begin the final season of his rookie contract as Wilson’s backup.
Of course, a contestant that begins a race in pole position does not necessarily win the race. Wilson suffered a calf injury during the team’s conditioning test, and the Steelers are slow playing his recovery. That has opened the door for Fields to get more first-team reps than initially expected, and he is reportedly making the most of his opportunity.
As ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted during an appearance on NFL Live at the end of July, Fields has “opened some eyes” with his training camp performance and is making the coaching staff realize how dynamic the offense can be with the former Bear under center (video link). Those comments are similar to those made on the first day of training camp by ESPN colleague Dan Graziano, who noted that while Fields certainly has ground to make up to overtake Wilson for the starting job, the Steelers are “open-minded about his ability to do so” (subscription required).
Like Graziano, Schefter believes Wilson is still leading the race, though it is a much closer competition than it once appeared. Because Pittsburgh has no meaningful financial connection to either player – Wilson is getting paid nearly $38MM by the Broncos but receiving just $1.21MM from the Steelers, while Fields is earning $1.62MM – there is no contractual reason for the Steelers to give the edge to one player over the other. In fact, given that Fields is just 25 and could still become the team’s next long-term passer, it would not be surprising if Tomlin – who has been a fan of the Ohio State product for some time – hopes he will unseat the 35-year-old Wilson.
Even if he privately feels that way, Tomlin is (obviously) not acknowledging it publicly. In yesterday’s appearance on the Up & Adams show with Kay Adams, Tomlin made plain that Wilson is still the favorite to open the season as the QB1, and he used his favorite racing metaphor to make that point.
“I think I’ve been pretty consistent in my position there,” Tomlin said. “I’ve characterized it as pole position for Russell. And the reason I have is certainly they are competing, but I don’t overly concern ourselves with being fair. There’s no such thing as 50/50. And so we just pay respect to the totality of his resume and his experience” (video link).
If Fields does ultimately change Tomlin’s mind, Graziano believes that Wilson could ask the Steelers to release or trade him. Wilson’s contract with Pittsburgh does have a no-trade clause that would afford him some control over the process, though in a scenario in which he fails to beat out Fields for the starting gig after opening the offseason with such a clear head start, he may not have much trade value anyway.
Go Justin go!
Field is Qb1 the combination of Mike Tomlin, Arthur smith two TEs, a bonafide wr1, a prime looking #2 (roman) & two rbs yeah Fields is going to show why yall should’ve never doubted him
lol, he’s been doubted by/c of his inability to close games and hold on to the football. Fields is dynamic, he just lacks the vision necessary to be a high-end passer in the league. Still would rather roll with him than Wilson.
Sure because fields has shown so much at every chance he’s been given. He’s a Mike Vick QB. An incredible athlete but a horrible QB.
Pocket presence. Wilson has it, Fields doesn’t. That said; prove me wrong Justin.
Respectfully disagree on Russ having pocket presence. I think he drops out of his reads and escapes the pocket a lot, way before there’s real pressure. I don’t know if he just doesn’t trust his read skills or if he prefers to roll out so his vision is less impeded, but he consistently bails out too soon.
Anyone who says rus has pocket presence hasn’t watched rus play lately lol. Rus led the league in forced sacks last year.
Bears had a good TE, bonafide #1 WR, and upper echelon running game. While JF has the athleticism and talent to be in the NFL, he just wasn’t able to read plays beyond WR1. There is no magic pill to take to fix that.
Meant Wilson has pocket presence when comparing to Fields. Nothing spectacular, but he’s got some.
I believe in Fields.
The legendary NFL coach John Madden is credited with saying, “if you have two quarterbacks, you actually have none.”
Madden coached nearly his entire career in an era when teams only played 14 regular season games…he might have a different viewpoint if he was alive today.
The statement is still true though. Pit has nothing at QB and they know it. Hence the cheap deals/trade. Sure, Mike will keep them around .500 beating bad teams, but when it matters, the Steelers don’t have the QB to win playoff games.
The league will soon be playing an 18 game schedule. I won’t be surprised if half the teams end up relying on 3 QBs to get them through that. The GMs that don’t bother adding QB depth behind their week 1 starter are going to regret it.
Even if he doesn’t start, they would be wise to design some plays for Fields. While his issues with the passing game ultimately cost him the Bear’s job, he’s capable of making huge game-changing plays. He’s a great kid and I wish him the best.
I want to see how fields runs the offense in preseason
If Fields is closing the gap then the Steelers have a bigger problem at QB than they anticipated
They anticipated having two castaway QBs with talent and experience that Kenny didn’t have. They aren’t perfect and they knew that when they acquired them. They can still be an improvement and improvement isn’t a problem.
I’m not sure that I believe this. Every story that I’ve read up until this point seemed to indicate the opposite-that Fields was doing poorly. I believe that Wilson had a minor injury and Fields took some first team reps, if I remember correctly. If that’s the case, I’m not sure that that counts as closing a gap, instead of just practicing the healthier player.
Tom Landry wasn’t very successful when he tried both QB Graig Morton and Roger Staubach in a rotating system. Don Shula made it to Super Bowl XVII with a Don Strock and David Woodley rotation.
Of course none of those QB pairs had a previous team paying them $38MM not to play for them.
Whoever wins the QB competition we can be assured that Tomlin will get the most out of them. Hopefully it’s Fields, Wilson has had his day and a lot more chances to shine
Are you being sarcastic?
Nope. Wilson is shot. You can’t hold on to somebody because they used to be great. If that was true they’d be offering Montana millions of dollars to return. He’s smart for finagling the contract out of Denver that he did, but come on, watching him play and knowing what he was there’s a big difference. Sometimes he’s painful to watch. Flip the page and run with Fields.
I believe Fields if given the starting job….can lead the steelers to the pist season…I see him being the steelers long term qb. Too much talent..he just needs a new environment.
Haha. Have another one
Fields could be a decent move TE…if he can catch.
Nothing surprising about this – as Arthur Smith’s offense emphasizes routes over the middle of the field, a place that Wilson hates to throw (as he likes the out routes and over the top routes).