Justin Fields will head into OTAs this month as the Pittsburgh Steelers QB2. The starting job belongs to veteran quarterback Russell Wilson. However, a Steelers insider thinks Fields has a better chance of staying in Pittsburgh beyond the 2024 season than Wilson.
Following his release from the Denver Broncos, the Steelers signed Wilson to a veteran minimum contract for the 2024 season in March. The Steelers then traded away Kenny Pickett. With 2023 quarterbacks Mason Rudolph and Mitch Trubisky gone, the Steelers traded with the Chicago Bears for Justin Fields to be Wilson’s backup.
The Steelers are not expected to extend Russell Wilson
![Insider: Justin Fields Likely To Be The Pittsburgh Steelers Starting Quarterback...In 2025 1 Russell Wilson](https://gridironheroics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/USATSI_22558099-683x1024.jpg)
Wilson and Fields are in the last year of their contract with the Steelers after choosing not to pick up Fields’ fifth-year option. Mark Kaboly with The Athletic wrote that he does not expect the Steelers to extend Wilson this summer:
“Wilson is making the veteran minimum from the Steelers, and the Broncos are paying the rest of his $39 million salary. He will become a free agent next year, and the Steelers could lose out on him, but their hands are tied. You don’t extend a 35-year-old quarterback before he takes a snap for you. The Steelers have to hope that, if Wilson has a solid 2024 season, his priority is staying with them. Prediction: Not extended”
The Steelers took a risk by upgrading their quarterback room on a pair of one-year patches. While the Steelers will need to consider another long-term option at quarterback by another means in the following offseason, they could take a gamble on Fields for the 2025 season. The Steelers are hoping Fields can progress as a quarterback in their system.
Justin Fields is predicted to stay with the Steelers
![Insider: Justin Fields Likely To Be The Pittsburgh Steelers Starting Quarterback...In 2025 2 Justin Fields](https://gridironheroics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/USATSI_22295003-683x1024.jpg)
Kaboly thinks the Steelers will extend Fields before the next offseason, so they have a QB1 option for the 2025 season on their roster:
Fields is a curious case. He didn’t have his fifth-year option picked up, and rightfully so (it would have guaranteed him $25.7 million in 2025). His shortcomings over his first three seasons don’t warrant a lucrative extension. Still, if the Steelers use 2024 to determine whether he is the long-term answer at the position, they would lose all of their leverage by allowing him to hit free agency.
The prudent thing to do is extend him now at a reduced price to ensure that he will be on the roster in 2025 without a huge risk to the salary cap. The Packers did that with Jordan Love, albeit before the fifth-year option deadline. Prediction: Extended
Justin Fields as a starter in 2025 wouldn’t cost them a Day 2 pick![Insider: Justin Fields Likely To Be The Pittsburgh Steelers Starting Quarterback...In 2025 3 USATSI 19285738 168400517 lowres](https://gridironheroics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/USATSI_19285738_168400517_lowres-683x1024.jpg)
Oct 9, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields (1) in action against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY SportsIronically, the Steelers traded the Bears a conditional sixth-round pick. For the Bears to receive a 2025 fourth-round pick, Fields must play more than 51% of the Steelers’ offensive snaps in the upcoming season. The Bears might have given the Steelers their long-term starter, but it’s a year too early to recoup a Day 2 pick.
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