Steelers Now
NFL insider Albert Breer expects quarterback Justin Fields to re-sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason. Fields should have plenty of suitors in free agency, however.
“I personally think there’s a good chance Justin [Fields] winds up back in Pittsburgh,” Breer said on the MMQB NFL Podcast. “He’s got good relationships. I think there’s a lot of good logic to the idea of Fields going back to Pittsburgh in some capacity.”
Breer mentioned in “some capacity”, but Fields has reportedly made it clear that he wants a realistic chance to start. That wasn’t the case last season when Russell Wilson was in pole position to start and eventually replaced Fields in Week 7 after he recovered from his calf injury.
“This one’s complicated because I do know there’s some sentiment in the building for bringing back Justin Fields,” Jeremy Fowler of ESPN said on SportsCenter. “Both sides, Fields and the Steelers, are certainly open to a potential reunion. Fields wants a realistic shot to start. He wants a clear path to be the guy for a full season, which he was not last year.”
Fowler also mentioned that there’s internal optimism within the Steelers organization that a deal will be reached with Justin Fields.
Things were seemingly going well for Fields in 2024. The Steelers were 4-2 and in first place in the AFC North. Overall, through six games, he threw for 1,106 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception. He also had five rushing scores.
That wasn’t good enough, however. Mike Tomlin inserted Wilson into the starting lineup in Week 7. And that was it. Fields did not start another game in 2024.
Tomlin thought Wilson gave the Steelers the best chance to compete for a Super Bowl. That obviously didn’t come to fruition, as the Steelers were once again one-and-done in playoffs.
“He’s got his faults as a player; he is a Steeler though,” Breer said. “He was a Steeler before he became one. Just his mentality, the way he carries himself, who he is. And I know they’d like to keep working with him.”
Former NFL quarterback Chris Simms isn’t too impressed with the idea of the Steelers running it back with Fields, however.
“Again, I like Justin Fields, and I root for him, but I feel like, one, if they bring Russell Wilson back, the fan base, and I don’t think the locker room, would be in love with that,” Simms said Monday on Pro Football Talk. “Justin Fields, I feel like, is gonna leave a little bit of a stale taste in everybody’s mouth, too.
“I don’t think it’s gonna excite Pittsburgh if they go, ‘We’re bringing Justin Fields back to be the starter.’ If they want to bring him back, that’s great. But, I still think they’ve gotta bring somebody else in there to maybe be the starter, challenge him, whatever that might be.”
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