Behind the Steel Curtain
Another uncomfortable conversation in Pittsburgh...
It’s a double feature this week. Read & React is going to take a break through the rest of the playoffs — barring any critical breaking news that pulls us back — but we first wanted to debrief the season that was. One of the most significant components of that discussion is, of course, the quarterback position. Without a single quarterback under contract in 2025, Pittsburgh has some decisions to make — namely, should the team bring back Russell Wilson or Justin Fields next season?
RP: We’ve touched on the quarterback situation a ton this year. I wrote about the possible quarterback scenarios for this offseason back in April, and most of my thoughts remain the same. I said then Russ should be gone if the season ended without a playoff win and with the Steelers failing to become a top-half offense. I still stand by that.
The Russell Wilson experiment was fun for a moment. I get why Tomlin made the switch from Fields to Wilson. I still felt it was a short-sighted approach. That’s a sentiment now being echoed in the national media:
Wilson ultimately was who I said he was though, and playing him just to end up in another Wild Card blow feels like a waste of valuable snaps the Steelers could have used to develop and/or assess Fields.
Scroll through tweets about the Steelers on X and you’ll find many coming to another realization I spelled out in April — even if you don’t like Fields, there are no obvious upgrades in free agency or the draft. Among the names being shared by fans and pundits, it’d be hard to argue that Fields is any worse off than broken down Aaron Rodgers or a similarly inconsistent Sam Darnold. This year’s draft class is also weak, and while there is always the possibility a quarterback drafted in the later rounds becomes a diamond in the rough, the odds are not in the Steelers’ favor.
So in short, I’d bring Fields back. There’s almost no downside. If he develops into a quality starter, amazing. If he sucks, at least they’ll pick higher in 2026. That class could feature a crop of intriguing prospects like Arch Manning, Nico Iamaleava, Garret Nussmeier, and Drew Allar.
RB: The Steelers’ quarterback situation is depressing because there’s no easy answer — not even throwing the GDP of a small country at a proven free agent is an option this year given who’s available (If the Seahawks somehow move on from Geno Smith, I’m intrigued). The draft might become more promising as we dive deeper into the names available this spring, but the 2025 class looks shallow when it comes to quarterback talent — especially in the Steelers’ draft range.
While I’d expect some sort of dart throw on a mid-to-late-round passer in the draft, the Steelers’ best option still seems to be re-signing one of the...
