Pittsburgh Steelers Steelers News
Rooney: Steelers to Talk ‘Soon’ with QBs Wilson, Fields
The Pittsburgh Steelers are unlikely to bring back both of the quarterbacks who’d started for the team this past season. The smoke shouldn’t take too long to clear on whether it will be Justin Fields or Russell Wilson who remains.
Steelers president Art Rooney II sat down with WTAE’s Ashley Liotus for an interview she posted on her X account Thursday. Rooney gave a slight glimpse into the the team’s thought process regarding the future at the signal-caller position.
“You know, we’ll be talking to Justin and his representative, as well as Russell and his representative, here soon,” Rooney said. “It’s one of those things where (it’s) the sooner, the better, in terms of finalizing something with one of them.”
Rooney was asked if talks had started with either yet, to which he answered:
“We’ve had conversations with both of them, yeah. In terms of the players, they both have said they’d like to come back, so that’s a good start.”
Whichever passer sticks around for next year will be in the driver’s seat, though Rooney seemed hesitant to anoint them a starter at this juncture. Fields went 4-2 as a starter in his first season in Pittsburgh, while Wilson later took over and went 6-5.
“I look as competition as a good thing and so I think every position on the team should be up for competition,” Rooney said. “Obviously, it depends on the player and the position and their, let’s say, tenure with the team, so there’s a lot that goes into it. But, I would say that if we sign either Russell or Justin, I would assume, from where we are today, that that one would go into the season being the starter.”