NFL insider Ian Rapoport has indicated that the Pittsburgh Steelers might fulfill their biggest offseason requirement by extending Justin Fields’ contract in the coming weeks.
“Currently, according to my knowledge, Justin Fields is more probable to be the starting quarterback for the Steelers than Russell Wilson,” Rapoport stated on Tuesday.
Fields started the 2024 season as the Steelers’ primary quarterback, and although he threw five touchdowns and ran for five additional ones, veteran Russell Wilson took over from Week 7.
Re-signing Wilson is still a possibility, as noted by Rapoport, but with the free agency signing period on March 12 approaching rapidly, an agreement to keep him seems increasingly unlikely to materialize.
The Steelers possess the salary cap flexibility to sign a quarterback during free agency; however, although there were claims about their interest in trading for Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, no deal occurred.
With Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford no longer available, the shrinking number of quarterbacks in free agency could speed up the Steelers’ intentions to secure Fields with a contract through at least 2025.
Fields may not be as skilled as Wilson, Lawrence, or Stafford, but he would be much cheaper and enable the team to address other roster requirements.
Although he had a disappointing start to his career, at just 25 years old, Fields is eager to seize any chance to demonstrate that he can still evolve into the player the Chicago Bears imagined when they chose him with the 11th overall selection in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft.