Paul Zeise: Steelers have seemingly fumbled the most important position on the field

Paul Zeise, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Mar 10, 2025

Published in Football

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PITTSBURGH — If the Steelers wanted Justin Fields back, they royally screwed up in how they have handled this offseason and the negotiations with him.

If the Steelers didn’t really want Fields back, they wasted a lot of time and energy making people think they did, and that was time and energy they couldn’t afford to lose.

Either way, the Steelers handling of Fields in the offseason was head-scratching, to say the least, and now who knows where the quarterback carousel will land? Either Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Daniel Jones or ... good lord, I don’t even want to think about what is next on that list.

I don’t think Fields is great. I don’t think he's necessarily the answer. I don’t even know if he is good.

Here is what Fields is versus Jones, Wilson and Rodgers:

A young player with a lot of talent and upside potential. We know what Rodgers, Jones and Wilson are. We think we might know what Fields is, but we aren’t really sure. Maybe we need to see a little more from him before we decide.

I will say this — maybe it is best for Fields to go to New York and play for an offensive coordinator that seems to be innovative enough to use his talents. Maybe the biggest issue here with Fields wasn’t Fields but the antiquated philosophies of Arthur Smith and the Steelers offensive staff.

And let me take this one step further — if Fields goes to the Jets and thrives, it should be the absolute end of Smith and, quite frankly, the people in charge of hiring him. The Steelers are so afraid of being innovative, creative and new that they keep hiring coordinators who seemingly wish they called plays in the Jim Brown era.

Fields is a talented player with potential who is still young enough to grow into something much better than he has been. I am not saying he will, but I would love to see him play in a system with a coaching staff that knows how to use his talents — think Jayden Daniels and the Commanders — than watch Wilson, Rodgers or Jones lead the Steelers to nine or 10 wins and another first-round flameout.

At least with Fields, the Steelers would be trying to move forward at the quarterback position and figure out if they have their guy of the future. He might not ultimately be that, but then they can stop kidding themselves with pipe dreams of essentially hitting an inside straight and finding some old guy who discovers the fountain of youth.

Give me a break.

Rodgers is one play away from another blown Achilles, Jones is painfully mediocre and Wilson is the same guy who orchestrated the Steelers’ six-game losing streak down the stretch. This isn’t fantasy football. Collecting names who can’t play anymore is not a winning strategy.

Fields, to me, is better than Jones, and while Rodgers and Wilson may be a little better at this point in their careers, it’s not by much.

I have no doubt that if Fields had started all 17 games last season, the Steelers would have gone 10-7 and still would have gotten blown out of the building by the Ravens in the playoffs. None.

And remember a few weeks ago, when most of the reporters covering the team told us, according to sources, Fields was the Steelers’ guy because Smith and Wilson couldn’t coexist. There was some stuff about Wilson changing plays, Smith not appreciating it and how Tomlin preferred Fields’ mobility.

Remember that? Fun times, weren’t they?

And now, if Wilson is the guy, all of that apparently goes away. We just forget it happened, and Wilson and Smith will declare their undying love for each other. In fact, we will all be told that was never said or written or it was out of context.

I don’t know what the right answer is, but I do know the Steelers have left themselves in a situation where they are guaranteed to be in the quarterback market again next year. Regardless of whom they sign at this point, it will be a one-year guy. That means we will have to play this game again.

At least in signing Fields, there was a chance — just a chance — he could have turned into the Steelers quarterback for the next five or six years. Again, I am not saying he would have; I am saying there was at least a chance.

The Steelers saw there a risk with Fields, but there is a risk with the other three, as well. The risk was just different, and I don’t think the potential reward for any of the other three is so much greater than that of Fields that it makes any sense for the Steelers to let him walk out the door to the Jets.

Time will tell, obviously, but this is looking more and more like a team that is destined to end up 9-8, 10-7 with a first-round playoff exit and be one more year further down the road without any real long-term answer at quarterback in sight.

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