The Steelers were justified in moving on from Justin Fields
The Pittsburgh Steelers near the end of the first week of the new league year without a defined starter at the quarterback position. For some, they feel the team has botched finding a long-term solution at the position following the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger.
This offseason is much like last, as the quarterback room might look different with two of the three players from their depth chart having signed with other teams. While Russell Wilson is still available, third-string QB Kyle Allen has signed with the Detroit Lions while Justin Fields agreed to terms on a substantial contract with the New York Jets.
The latter is what some fans are calling a mistake. How could the Steelers “let Justin Fields go?” However, it’s a mistake to think that way. Here’s why.
Fields wasn’t the original plan
One of the bigger misconceptions of last season is that the Steelers heavily pursued Fields to be their starter. It wasn’t until Russell Wilson was signed, intending to be the starting quarterback in 2024, that Kenny Pickett demanded a trade.
Pickett was unwilling to compete or play behind the veteran, necessitating a move for a backup.
Holding the first pick in the NFL Draft, it was obvious the Bears were going to select Caleb Williams and they had no leverage to deal Fields. His agent claimed the Bears “had his client’s best interests” in mind when they traded the passer to the Steelers.
In reality, Fields’ market was next to nil. The Steelers had the only offer worth taking: a sixth-round pick in exchange for a former first-round pick.
He was also never the planned starter
Many in the national media incorrectly believed Fields was competing for Wilson for the starting job. That misconception was furthered by Fields starting the first six games of the regular season for an injured Wilson.
Despite leading the Steelers to a 4-2 record, Wilson reclaimed his starting role in Week 7 and never looked back. Once again, talking heads would incorrectly claim Fields was “benched” despite the plan to play Wilson all along.
Financials
If the Steelers had truly viewed Fields as their long-term solution they would’ve traded for him and not signed Wilson to begin with. The allure of signing Wilson for a rock-bottom contract was enticing, but it was never as appealing to pay Fields to the tune of the New York Jets two-year, $40 million offer.
This was apparent when the Steelers passed on Fields’ fifth-year option, which was in the neighborhood of paying Fields $23 million this season: more than the Jets’ eventual offer.
Long-term Development
Some fans have viewed Fields’ age (26 as of March 5th) as a benefit, but that’s all for naught if the quarterback isn’t performing at a high level.
One of the talking points is that Fields could develop in Pittsburgh. The problem is, when does that occur?
The former first-round pick arrived in Pittsburgh with 38 career starts out of 40 games played. His trial period was essentially a summer without Wilson, including all of camp, the preseason, and six regular season starts.
Struggling to win
If there’s one pattern that Justin Fields carried over from previous Steelers quarterbacks Mitchell Trubisky and Kenny Pickett, it was failing to maintain drives or score points. With all these passers Pittsburgh won games by playing tight defense. That would prove unsustainable.
In Fields’ six starts, the Steelers offense sputtered to an 18-10 win over the Falcons where all of the scoring from kicker Chris Boswell. Another tight victory was achieved in a 13-6 win over the Broncos.
In a 20-10 victory over the Chargers Fields would have one of Fields’ best games as a pro but it was all downhill from there with losses to the Colts and Cowboys.
Wilson performed better
The opportunity to show he was better than Wilson – or another other option – sailed with the inability to showcase elite traits against poor Colts, Cowboys, and Raiders defenses. Playing him further into 2024 or beyond would be a gamble.
Despite a lopsided win over the Raiders, Fields was unimpressive in his final two starts, completing fewer than 60% of his passes and totaling 276 passing yards.
The change to Wilson was evident initially. Wilson would go 6-1 in his first seven starts as the offense saw an uptick in yards (100+ per game) and points (10+ per game). The season would crash and burn with a five-game losing streak and another season minus a playoff win.
The anger directed at the offense turned into a loathsome hatred for Wilson and an odd fascination with Fields. But would Fields have done better? That’s unlikely.
Fingers of blame pointed to Wilson, which isn’t entirely fair given the Steelers’ defense’s inability to stop opponents such as the Eagles (20-play drive) or Ravens (Derrick Henry’s 348 yards in two games). Fields couldn’t have prevented that.
Risky Business
Aside from the financial commitment, we all too soon forget the liability Fields was at times. An inability to handle snaps was attributed to a rookie center yet all but disappeared when Wilson was running the offense.
However, one of the biggest issues surrounding the Steelers’ offense all season was the pressure put on the quarterbacks.
Russell Wilson, one of the most sacked QBs in NFL history, finished 2024 with a sack rate of 8.74% over his last five seasons. His reluctance to take shots at times led to holding the ball too long and taking negative plays: to the tune of 213 sacks in 71 games over that span.
That may remind fans of Ben Roethlisberger’s early years. Under offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, Big Ben was a pinata, getting crushed 215 times with an 8.61% sack rate.
Surely, a mobile, athletic quarterback such as Justin Fields should yield better results.
Yet, his similar traits to holding the ball for too long are worse. In 50 games (44 starts) Fields has taken a whopping 151 sacks – an 11.89% rate.
Glass Ceiling
A light at the end of the tunnel is hard to envision when a quarterback has a 17-33 starting record with 45 touchdowns to 31 interceptions. It’s further complicated with the sack rate and fumbles (44 in 44 starts).
The lack of breakout games is also concerning and something the Steelers front office had to ponder while making a long-term decision. Among Fields’ 44 starts, he’s only thrown for over 300 yards twice. One of those games was the shootout against the Colts in Week 3 where Pittsburgh was forced to sling the ball while playing from behind.
Fields also has only three career games with three or more touchdown passes. Worse, he only has six with two or more. In 13 of his 44 starts, he’s failed to throw a touchdown pass at all.
While his feet are a major talking point, Fields has only scored a rushing touchdown in 15 of those games too. Comparisons to Lamar Jackson are unjustifiable with Fields’ five career games of 100+ rushing yards.
The numbers don’t align with those of a player trending upward. Hence, the Steelers started looking elsewhere.
Steelers Benefit
Fields signing a substantial contract with New York has an added benefit for the Steelers in the future. They stand to gain a compensatory pick for losing a free agent.
As it stands, that pick will likely be higher than the sixth-round selection they traded Chicago.
Final Thoughts
I would hope fans saying the Steelers missed out on their long-term future have thoroughly read through the bullet points above. A “TLDR” version has its share of negatives, but all are justified in each section.
Pittsburgh couldn’t move the ball, gain first downs, gain short yardage, or score points in the way they’d like with Fields under center. Paying him $20 million or more per season wasn’t a wise long-term business decision either.
The Steelers used last offseason as a free trial of what Fields could provide. They canceled the subscription and will end up being paid back for what they spent. In that sense, they are totally justified in moving on from Justin Fields.
