The Pittsburgh Steelers acquired Justin Fields for pennies on the dollar, dealing a conditional sixth-round draft pick in exchange for the former Chicago Bears quarterback that can become a fourth-rounder if he reaches playing-time benchmarks, but now face a difficult — and costly decision.
General Manager Omar Khan and the Steelers must decide whether to exercise Fields‘ fifth-year option by May 2.
Conventional wisdom would suggest that picking up the $25.7 million option would be an easy decision, amid a ballooning quarterback market and the fact that the 25-year-old Fields still has plenty of upside.
Plus, the Pittsburgh Steelers would essentially be buying one more season to decide whether to extend Justin Fields far below the going rate for starting quarterbacks across the league.
However, that’s not the path Pro Football Focus predicts the Pittsburgh Steelers will take with Justin Fields.
“The Steelers don’t have any quarterbacks under contract beyond 2024 as of today,” Brad Spielberger writes. “But, exercising Fields’ option still feels like a longshot.
“Fields can potentially supplant Russell Wilson as the starter in 2024, after which Pittsburgh may be able to sign him to something of a bridge-type deal, franchise-tag him or extend him to a major contract. That outcome is more expensive than the option — potentially exponentially so — but it’s worth avoiding the downside risk of exercising the option and things not panning out quite as well.”
Theoretically, allowing Fields to play out this season on the final year of his contract could benefit the former first-round pick tremendously.
If Wilson falters, and Fields eventually supplants him as the starting quarterback, Fields would be in prime position to cash in in free agency, presumably with a far stronger market than the Bears experienced in their efforts to trade him.
Likewise, the franchise tag carried a $38.3 million price tag for quarterbacks in 2024 and should increase ahead of the 2025 offseason.
There’s always the chance that Wilson regains his All-Pro form, Fields never sees significant playing time, and Pittsburgh commits to Wilson, instead.
But, picking up Fields’ option would create an affordable, young option to build around. Likewise, exercising Fields’ option wouldn’t preclude the Steelers from drafting a quarterback in 2025 with Fields serving as a Bridge.
Khan has a bargain on his hands at quarterback, how he handles Fields’ immediate future will be telling when it comes to how the organization views him, and the financial upset Fields could potentially play his way into this season.
How Justin Fields Can Help Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback room figures to be one of the more fascinating preseason storylines across the NFL.
At least one AFC Executive believes regardless of who is the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 1 starter, Justin Fields could play a meaningful impact in 2024.
“It’s a great situation the Steelers put themselves in this year,” an AFC Scouting Director tells me. “They upgraded significantly at the quarterback position and gave themselves two options with different skill sets. It should be a good competition, but they can use both quarterbacks if Russell gets back to close to the form he was in Seattle.”
Statistically speaking, Wilson is still a productive quarterback. The 35-year-old passed for 3,070 yards with 26 touchdowns to eight interceptions in 15 games, before getting benched by the Denver Broncos last season. Still, Denver was just 12-19 in games Wilson started the past two seasons.
It might take more than that to fend off Fields in Pittsburgh.
“Just imagine what Fields could do in short-yardage situations,” the executive suggests. “Justin could be really effective near the goal line. Plus, if it just isn’t Russ’s game, Fields could open up the running game a lot more with him in there at quarterback.”
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