Steelers Quarterback Situation Comes into Focus after Combine
INDIANAPOLIS — The Pittsburgh Steelers still do not have a quarterback under contract as we enter the final day of the 2025 NFL Combine, but their plan seems to be coming into focus.
The Steelers have essentially had three options at the quarterback position since the 2024 season ended: they can chase external upgrades, despite those not being plentiful or obvious, and they can re-sign one of their two internal options, Justin Fields or Russell Wilson.
All three of those options have had some level of support from different parts of the Steelers braintrust over the last few weeks. Here’s where things stand right now:
The already-slim list of external options appears to be slimming further. Matthew Stafford re-signed with the Los Angeles Rams. It seems likely that Aaron Rodgers will end up with the New York Giants, and even if he doesn’t, there doesn’t seem to be much if any momentum for him to end up in Pittsburgh.
Rodgers and Sam Darnold don’t possess the quarterback mobility that Mike Tomlin has been harping on for years, and that a team that pass protected as poorly as the Steelers did in 2024 probably needs.
Neither does Derek Carr or Kirk Cousins, should one of those two be released. The Falcons appear to be content to at least go into the season with Cousins as their backup. The Saints have to do something drastic to get salary cap compliant and it’s not immediately clear how they’re going to do that.
The Steelers seem to have a relatively hard deadline to make a deal. They don’t want to enter the contact period, when they should be locking down a starting wide receiver and a cornerback or two, without knowing who their quarterback will be and how much they’ll be spending on that position.
“In an ideal scenario, you’d like to have this done before the start of the league year,” general manager Omar Khan said on Tuesday. “That impacts who you sign. That impacts the type of receiver you may go after or how you build the rest of the team, so all of that has an effect.”
They can afford to be patient for another week, and wait and see where some of those other dominoes fall, but that’s about the extent of that.
In terms of the internal options, while both players seem to have their particular backers, it seems that the consensus is that the majority of the Steelers’ decision-making brass would prefer to move forward with Fields. That’s definitely true of the offensive coaching staff, and the locker room, too, for whatever that’s worth.
Wilson appears to have genuinely ruffled some feathers with the storylines coming out about his relationship with Arthur Smith after the season, and that has left a bad taste in the mouths of many around the team.
Despite that, and despite the fact that Fields is the preference, don’t rule out a Wilson return just yet.
It remains very uncertain as to whether Fields will agree to sign a contract with the Steelers before the start of free agency. His agent, David Mulugheta, is somewhat infamous in NFL circles for aggressively maximizing the potential return for his clients. Some, like Cincinnati wide receiver Tee Higgins, have decided to change agents away from Mulugheta if they really want to stay with their current team.
There is real interest from the New York Jets in signing Fields to replace Rodgers and potentially pair with a younger quarterback. There also is at least apparently some real interest from Fields in hearing what the Jets may be willing to offer. I say apparently because it’s hard to separate what might be Fields’ true beliefs from interest in the Jets just being used as leverage against the Steelers.
Either way, there is a hesitancy from the Fields camp to sign before free agency. Is there a price that would get them to do so? That is uncertain at this point. The Steelers obviously haven’t gotten to one at this point, though they may be waiting for other external shoes to drop before making their best offer.
Earlier this offseason, Spotrac pegged Fields’ market value at one year, $6.4 million. At this point, you can consider that number to be absurdly low. It will likely take something in the range $15 to $20 million per season, depending on the length and guarantees, to get Fields to sign in Pittsburgh now.
If the Steelers can’t get Fields to sign before the start of free agency, expect them to pivot to Wilson. They do not want to go into the free agency period without a quarterback.
Wilson appears to have other options available to him, including possibly the Giants and Las Vegas Raiders, but he still would prefer a return to Pittsburgh.
The Steelers do not appear to be heavily invested in the quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft class. They will probably take one, but it would be a major surprise if it’s before the third round, and such a player should not be expected to figure into the starting picture in 2025.
Khan and company have another week to figure things out, and it seems as if this situation might drag on for most of it as the Steelers wait and see about other options and Fields flexes his leverage.