On a recent podcast with his trainer Quincy Avery, Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson touched on the addition of Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers and AFC North. With Mike Tomlin already declaring that Russell Wilson is the starter, Watson questions whether Pittsburgh was the best landing spot for Fields.
“For me, and I’m very on the conservative side, so I think Russell’s gonna be better. I think they should have a competition, best man wins, at the end of the day, but to each his own,” Watson said when asked if he thought Fields would become the starter by the end of the year. “That’s their own organization, they said Russell’s the guy. I think if he’s the guy, I think Justin could have went to a better situation so he can play.”
With at least four other teams interested, Fields made it clear that he wanted to be traded to the Steelers, and the Chicago Bears did right by him. Many believe Tomlin and the Steelers are just what Fields needs to get his career on track after having a lack of stability in Chicago. He had two head coaches and three different offensive coordinators in his three years with the Bears.
Watson has been talking about the Steelers a lot on his podcast lately, as he also commented on the Steelers’ decision to add Russell Wilson to the quarterback room last week.
“It just made sense for [Wilson] to go there. I think it was them or New York, but New York, I feel like they’re starting over. Pittsburgh feels like they’ve got pieces, just because of Tomlin. They’re gonna compete. Welcome to the North, man, where things get real, real, real, real spooky,” Watson said. “Pittsburgh’s a good organization. It’s crazy for me to say that, I’m just keeping it 100, because I’m a Brown. But at the end of the day you gotta give respect where respect is due. Tomlin is gonna have them boys right.”
Former Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton basically had the same opinion as Watson when discussing Fields on a separate podcast.
“You went from a franchise quarterback to a package guy. Okay? If Russell Wilson is the starter for 18 weeks and they go to the playoffs, you see what I’m saying?” Newton said on his 4th & 1 podcast.
Newton implies that Fields could be on the bench for multiple seasons if Wilson takes off with the Steelers. It’s a valid point, and something that has to be considered, but many are of the belief that Fields will eventually overtake Wilson as the starter.