Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers are unlikely to bring back both of the quarterbacks who’d started for the team this past season. Steelers president Art Rooney II sat down with WTAE’s Ashley Liotus for an interview this past week, and Rooney gave a slight glimpse into the the team’s thought process regarding the future at the signal-caller position.
“You know, we’ll be talking to Justin and his representative, as well as Russell and his representative, here soon,” Rooney said. “It’s one of those things where (it’s) the sooner, the better, in terms of finalizing something with one of them.”
Rooney was asked if talks had started with either yet, to which he answered:
“We’ve had conversations with both of them, yeah. In terms of the players, they both have said they’d like to come back, so that’s a good start.”
Former Steelers free safety Ryan Clark thinks the best decision would be to ride with Fields in 2025.
“I think they should re-sign Justin Fields and here’s why — you can figure out, can he be the guy for the future? And if he bombs, you could go high in the draft and get somebody good. Somebody that could play,” Clark said on NFL Live.
"I think you figure out, can he be the guy for the future?"@Realrclark25 on why the Steelers should re-sign Justin Fields ✍️ pic.twitter.com/fvCCGDp9Wx
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) January 31, 2025
In 2024, Fields played some of the best ball of his career in the six games he filled in for Russell Wilson. He set highs in completion percentage (65.8%), interception rate (0.6%), success rate (42.9%), quarterback rating (93.3) and adjusted net yards per attempt (5.86). Overall, Fields was 4-2 as a starter.
A report by Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated two weeks ago said the team grew frustrated with Russell Wilson down the stretch run, but would love to keep working with Justin Fields, who started the first six games of the season while Wilson was hurt.
Former NFL quarterback and league MVP Cam Newton thinks the Steelers would make a massive mistake by running it back with Wilson in 2025. He believes Fields would be the better option.
“Russell Wilson is saying and doing everything that he’s supposed to say. Of course he wants to stay, of course he’s going to prop up and say there’s no other place like Pittsburgh,” Newton said on First Take. “Hey, bro, you got to understand like this, Mike T. You got to understand like this Pittsburgh. Two of the four game changers in this league are in this division Ravens, Lamar Jackson, Bengals, Joe Burrow. How do we compete with those guys? If anything, I’m saying give it to Justin Fields. Build with Justin Fields. He’s a young player that you can build with.”
