Russini: Steelers Not ‘Actively Working’ to Trade for Justin Fields

The Pittsburgh Steelers are not one of the teams actively working to trade for Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields, according to a report by Dianna Russini of the Athletic. This contradicts a report by Adam Schefter, who cooled the interest in the Atlanta Falcons and Fields but believed Pittsburgh could work something out.

“Additionally, Pittsburgh is not among the teams actively working to trade for Fields, league sources told The Athletic’s Dianna Russini,” they wrote.

Schefter stated during a Sportscenter segment on Saturday that the Steelers are in fact in play for Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields. Despite reports suggesting otherwise, Schefter thinks Atlanta is not a front-runner to trade for Fields.

“I think Atlanta will be something of a surprise right now to trade for Justin Fields,” Schefter said, via On3.com’s Nick Kosko. “There’s been some conversations about the Pittsburgh Steelers, maybe something can be figured out there.”

Explicitly asked at the Combine about potentially trading for Fields, Steelers general manager Omar Khan said that he would not get into specifics about the conversations he’s had around the league.

“I’m not gonna go into details about the conversations that we’ve had,” he said. “But like I mentioned earlier, I can tell you that I have an obligation to look at every avenue that’s out there to make us a better football team.”

Khan said that he has full faith in Kenny Pickett as the Steelers’ starting quarterback, but stressed the fact that competition will be a part of the process.

“I have full faith in Kenny,” Khan said. “He’s shown us some good things. Obviously, there were some issues with the offense and I’m excited about the impact that Arthur Smith is going to have on him. Arthur is very optimistic about Kenny. I know they’ve communicated. We’ll have some strong competition there and we’ll see how it goes. …

“Regardless of what position, not just the quarterback position, you guys have heard me talk about this last year when I first got this job, competition is important to me. And that’s no different to the quarterback position. Competition makes us all better. That’s regardless of position. That’s just in life.”

Fields took a small step forward in 2023, his third year as Chicago’s starting quarterback. The 24-year-old Ohio State alum threw 370 times, completing 227 for 2,562 yards and 16 touchdowns. He threw nine interceptions and maintained an 86.3 passer rating and a 5.29 adjusted net yards per attempt.

Last season, he was 192 of 318 for 2,242 yards, 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, an 85.2 quarterback rating and 4.63 adjusted net yards per attempt.

Fields is entering the final year of his rookie contract and the Bears — or another team, if he’s traded — must decide this offseason if they want to pick up the fifth-year option on his contract. That would be a guaranteed $25 million contract for 2025. The Bears or another club could also attempt to negotiate a traditional contract extension.