Category: Justin Fields

Are the Steelers driving down Justin Fields’ value in free agency?

Are the Steelers not playing Fields to help keep his free-agent market low?

As we wait for the start of the playoffs this weekend, we’ve had the chance to dig back into several Pittsburgh Steelers games from 2024 with a keen eye on the Steelers use of quarterback Justin Fields. Fields, along with Russell Wilson are both set to hit free agency at the end of the season and it is highly unlikely the Steelers will re-sign both.

Fields went 4-2 as a starter but head coach Mike Tomlin benched him once Wilson was healthy despite Fields success. Fans of Wilson were screaming from the rooftops at first when Wilson was playing so well but over the last month, Wilson has fallen flat.

So why not look for Fields again? Even if Tomlin doesn’t want to bench Wilson outright, why have we seen so little of Fields, even in specialty sets and packages?

It could be a case of the Steelers wanting to re-sign Fields at the end of the season but don’t want to show too much of Fields so as to keep him off the radar of NFL teams eyeing a quarterback. This would allow the Steelers to potentially bring Fields back on the cheap to be the starter in 2025 and let Wilson walk.

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Steelers’ late-season collapse proves Kenny Pickett wasn’t the problem

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive struggles persist despite new quarterbacks, raising questions about coaching and front office decisions.

One of the biggest criticisms of the Pittsburgh Steelers over the past few seasons has been their inability to get quality play out of the quarterback position. The Black and Gold faithful hoped that the acquisitions of QBs Russell Wilson and Justin Fields in 2024 would change that.

However, the Wilson- and Fields-led offense finished with the same mediocre 10-7 record as the Kenny Pickett-led 2023 Steelers.

In 2023, the Pittsburgh Steelers finished 25th in total passing offense under Pickett, Trubisky, and Rudolph, while Wilson and Fields led the Steel City to a similar fate in 2024: ranked 24th in passing offense with an incredibly underwhelming improvement of just 101 yards.

The statistical evidence doesn’t lie: if Fields and Wilson aren’t to blame, neither was Pickett.

All three QBs had to deal with incompetent offensive play-calling, terrible pass protection, and questionable decision-making by HC Mike Tomlin.

Tomlin’s refusal to accept blame for his hiring of subpar offensive coordinators is second to none, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are unlikely to improve on offense until the front office gets involved.

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Steelers receive great news as Justin Fields trade conditions finalize

The Steelers’ trade for Justin Fields has officially finalized, costing Pittsburgh only a 2025 sixth-round pick in a massive steal.

Steelers fans rejoice! Omar Khan—AKA ‘the Khan Artist’—has officially outsmarted the Chicago Bears for the second time in just over two years.

While the outcome of the Chase Claypool trade was clearly one-sided in Pittsburgh’s favor, the winner of 2024’s Justin Fields trade seemed debatable.

However, as the trade became official last night, the Steelers will only need to send a 2025 sixth-round draft pick to the Bears. Fields would have needed to play in 51% of the Steelers’ snaps for the conditional sixth-round pick to escalate to a fourth-rounder—and Russell Wilson’s emergence as the Steelers’ QB in Week 7 put an end to that.

While it remains to be seen if the Steelers will re-sign Fields this upcoming 2025 offseason—and properly develop him—no one can deny that acquiring a player of his caliber for just a sixth-round draft pick is an absolute steal.

Khan has been incredible since taking over the GM role in 2022, and fans of the Black and Gold should be excited about what he has in store for 2025 offseason and NFL Draft.

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Steelers QB makes it clear he wants to stick around

Justin Fields loves it in Pittsburgh and wants to come back.

Once the regular season comes to an end, the Pittsburgh Steelers will have decisions to make about all three of their quarterbacks. Justin Fields, Russell Wilson and Kyle Allen are all set to hit free agency and there’s been no indication from the team how they plan to proceed.

One of the quarterbacks who definitely wants to be back next year is Fields and he made that clear when he addressed the media this week.

“I want to be here,” Fields said. “I’m kind of tired of learning a new offense every year. This will be my third in four years. Of course, I’d love to be back, but that’s all up to God at the end of the day. I’ll be where God wants me to be.”

It is highly unlikely the Steelers will be able to afford Fields and Wilson and they will only pursue one. Fields went 4-2 as a starter in the first six games before Wilson was healthy and took over. Wilson got off to a hot start but has seriously cooled off during the team’s current three-game losing streak.

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Justin Fields injury gives Steelers upper hand in Bears trade

Justin Fields’ absence cements a favorable draft pick outcome for the Steelers, turning a conditional trade into a clear win.

It is never a good feeling for fans when their favorite team’s players suffer an injury of any kind. This is especially true for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ backup QB Justin Fields, whose absence not only heavily weakens the depth behind QB Russell Wilson but also results in the loss of the ever-dynamic ‘Fields rushing packages.’

However, Fields missing his team’s Week 16 contest against the Baltimore Ravens complicates the Steelers-Bears trade in favor of the Black and Gold.

One condition of the trade that saw the Pittsburgh Steelers send a 2025 conditional sixth-round pick to the Chicago Bears is that Fields would need to play over 51 percent of snaps for the pick to become a fourth-round draft selection. As fans can guess, his Week 16 absence makes this completely impossible now.

Early in the season, with Fields starting six games straight to open the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 campaign, it was expected the Bears would receive a fourth-round draft pick.

Wilson’s emergence not only changed the offense for the better, but it now seems to have assisted in what can only be described as a slam-dunk trade by Steelers GM Omar Khan.

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Bears and Seahawks fans still can’t get enough of Steelers QBs Russell Wilson and Justin Fields

Bears and Seahawks fans are still obsessed with QBs Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, even after their moves to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Fans of the Bears and Seahawks are realizing the grass isn’t always greener, as they still can’t get enough of Steelers QBs Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.

The Bears opted to take their chances on rookie QBs this past offseason. The Seahawks, on the other hand, had traded Wilson way back in 2022 to the Broncos, opting to move forward with QB Geno Smith.  Both of these teams seemed keen on allowing their former signal caller to move on to greener pastures, or in this case, the Black and Gold.

Pro Football Reference, widely regarded as the gold standard in football statistics, highlighted which player pages were the most viewed in all 50 states in 2024. While much of the map looked like Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson had taken over, several outlier states remained. Where things get interesting, however, is that Washington’s and Illinois’ most viewed players were none other than former QBs Wilson and Fields, respectively.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will likely only be able to keep one of their starting-caliber QBs, and with Steel City reportedly set on keeping Wilson for their long-term future, a Fields-Bears reunion still seems highly unlikely.

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Is the ‘Justin Fields package’ experiment over after Week 14 absence?

After Justin Fields’ absence in Week 14, questions arise about the future his rushing package and whether it was overused by Arthur Smith.

Oh, what a difference a week makes. It appears Pittsburgh Steelers OC Arthur Smith and HC Mike Tomlin were tired of explaining their strange decision-making regarding when to utilize QB Justin Fields’ mobility over QB Russell Wilson’s arm, as Fields played zero snaps in Week 14.

Inconsistency and poor execution are the only fitting descriptions for the ‘Fields rushing package.’ It seemed that the plays were either creating huge scoring opportunities or game-changing scenarios for the Black and Gold, or were costing Pittsburgh the contests entirely—there is seemingly no middle ground.

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense did look stagnant in terms of yardage in the Week 14 win over the Cleveland Browns, but the ball security and scoring prowess under Wilson’s leadership made up for it.

While it’s highly unlikely we’ve seen the last of the ‘Fields package,’ an argument can be made that Smith was incorporating it too heavily into every offensive gameplan since its debut in Week 11, instead of treating it as a last-resort gadget play, or red zone tool from week to week.

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Former Steelers QB wants to see Justin Fields line up at WR

Former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger shared an unconventional idea for the Steelers offense: using Justin Fields at wide receiver.

Strange circumstances from Week 12’s loss have sparked even stranger ideas for fixing the Pittsburgh Steelers offense. While fans, analysts, and coaches have zeroed in on the Steelers’ red zone inefficiency as an area needing improvement, former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger had an interesting suggestion of his own for the offense moving forward: Justin Fields at wide receiver.

During the most recent episode of Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger, Big Ben stated, “The nice thing is that when you use Justin a little bit at quarterback, it forces you as a defense, or opposing team, to spend a little bit of time at practice. I would like to see [them] line him up at receiver a couple times.”

Roethlisberger continued to argue that putting Fields in different positions forces defenses to spend additional time preparing to face the Steelers.

With this in mind, should the Pittsburgh Steelers implement Fields into different roles on offense, or was the failed package from Week 12 enough to discourage any further experimentation?

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How the ‘two quarterbacks’ adage explains Steelers’ offensive woes

The Steelers’ use of two quarterbacks could be directly hurting their offense, as highlighted by their Week 12 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

One of the most famous and wise football adages, often attributed to the legendary John Madden, applies perfectly to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ struggles on offense: “If you have two quarterbacks, you have none.”

While much unnecessary energy has been spent on the Week 12 blame game and recent offensive struggles, the Mike Tomlin-led Steelers may be missing the bigger picture—bringing Justin Fields into games could be hurting the long-term offensive game plan.

Pittsburgh receivers need time to build chemistry with one decisive quarterback, and the offense must be led confidently by a single starter. This was evident in Week 12 when Russell Wilson was kept off the field for a critical third-down play—a play that better suited his strengths. Instead, Fields took the snap and ultimately missed his deep throw to WR George Pickens. The Steelers would go on to lose the game to the Browns, 24-19.

Wilson must be allowed to lead the offense without worrying about being pulled. Consistency is crucial, especially as the Steelers prepare for what is shaping up to be a shootout with the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 13, on December 1st at 1:00 PM EST.

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Steelers QB disappointed in one particular play from Week 12

Pittsburgh Steelers QB Justin Fields reflects on a missed scoring opportunity during Week 12’s loss to the Cleveland Browns.

It’s safe to say that Pittsburgh Steelers QB Justin Fields is upset about more than just his team’s loss in Week 12 to the Cleveland Browns. Steelers OC Arthur Smith implemented Fields’ rushing package early and often against the Browns, with little success to show for it.

Perhaps the only meaningful rushing attempt worth mentioning was Fields’ 30-yard run that almost resulted in a touchdown. The keyword here is “almost,” as instead of rushing for 65 yards to the end zone, Fields was pushed out at the Browns’ 35-yard line.

Ultimately, according to ESPN reporter Brooke Pryor, Fields claimed his inability to score on the play made him “sick” and blamed it on being on the sideline for too long.

It is clear that Fields is referencing his time on the bench, while starting QB Russell Wilson handled the majority of the offensive duties. Should the Pittsburgh Steelers allow Fields to get more reps with his rushing package to stay loose, or will his presence only hinder the Wilson-led Steelers offense?

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