Can Justin Fields Trust the Steelers?
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported last month that Justin Fields has one demand if he’s going to re-sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and that’s a realistic shot 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,” Fowler 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.”
The current sense is that the Steelers want to move forward with Fields as their quarterback, but the two sides have not been able to land a deal yet, and time is ticking with the start of free agency just a few days away.
Aditi Kinkhabwala of CBS Sports thinks Fields’ best chance to prosper is with the Steelers.
“If Justin Fields wants to affirm he is indeed a starter in this league (and a starter to stay), his best path is to sign with the #Steelers,” Kinkhabwala wrote on X. “He is familiar with the offense, he has an offensive staff that absolutely believes in him and he freely told our @NFLonCBS crew how the ‘”contagious” confidence in the building is just part of why he felt a different comfort in PIT.”
In addition to Fields having a robust market, Kinkhabwala is hearing that Fields is hesitant to re-sign with the Steelers after being benched last season.
“The impediments, as I am told them? 1) There IS a market for him and he could chase money. 2) He has to get past any sting/distrust from this season, when there was player/assistant sentiment in the building that he return to the starting spot, but Mike Tomlin chose not to do so,” Kinkhabwala wrote.
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, who was sidelined with a calf injury in the first six games, 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.
Fields could have made a scene about being benched, but he didn’t. He handled the situation like a true professional, and that was noticed around the league, according to Pete Prisco of CBS Sports.
“I think he’s intriguing. He’s only 26. The age is right. He’s also flashed last year at times when he played for the Steelers. I thought he did some really good things. When they put him in packages later in the season, he did some really good things. He never complained. He could’ve complained; he could’ve moaned and groaned about putting the old man in instead of letting him play quarterback, but he didn’t. A lot of people around the league I talked to were impressed by the way he handled the whole situation,” Prisco said.