Justin Fields and Russell Wilson are set to become free agents this upcoming offseason and are ranked 46th and 81st, respectively, in our Top 100 Free Agents Rankings. The Pittsburgh Steelers are expected to bring only one of them back for next season.
The Steelers ended the season with five straight losses and were sent home by the Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card Round. The losing streak dismantled the goodwill Wilson had earned and perhaps his chances of re-signing, too, after winning six of his first seven starts.
Pittsburgh now finds itself at a crossroads over which passer to bring back, but one NFL insider believes owner Art Rooney II has a clear favorite.
Pittsburgh Steelers Could Let Go Of Justin Fields, Re-Sign Russell Wilson
Fields and Wilson split the time under center this season, with the former leading the Steelers to a 4-2 record and the latter going 6-5. While each finished their campaigns with a winning record, it’s quite clear at least one of the two is walking in free agency. Per Mark Kaboly of “The Pat McAfee Show,” Rooney would rather Fields hit the open market.
“The people at the top of the organization that might make the ultimate decisions are No. 3 fans over No. 2 fans,” Kaboly said. “I heard that maybe Art is more in favor of Russ than maybe the rest.”
However, Kaboly admitted that Rooney was unlikely to take the final call on the quarterback position.
“Now who has last call on this? I don’t know. I don’t think Art would stick his nose in and say, ‘We are taking Russ and forget about it,’ but I think that they made it crystal clear, at least Art did, to me, and I do believe him on this one. They wanna bring one of them back and I think it’s going to depend on which option they have.”
With Fields and Wilson having more or less similar performances last season, the Pittsburgh front office has some tough decisions to make.
PFN’s QB+ metric had Wilson ranked No. 17, while Fields didn’t qualify due to the minimum attempt threshold but would have placed No. 15. However, he had a higher QB+, 78.1, than Wilson’s 75.3 in the regular season.
With one of them (nearly) guaranteed to enter free agency, the Steelers are predicted to look for veteran quarterbacks this offseason, including rumors about Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford. With both finishing 21st and 22nd by QB+, though, there’s an argument that a new face wouldn’t necessarily be an upgrade for Pittsburgh.