Steelers QB Justin Fields named ‘player to root for’ by NFL Network
For some reason, the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to trade for former Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields after signing quarterback Russell Wilson. Wilson is a borderline Hall of Famer and did not come to the Steelers to be the backup to anyone.
This means we really don’t know if there will be a legitimate quarterback battle in training camp or not, but according to NFL writer Tom Blair is still rooting for Fields this year.
I almost made it through this entire file without naming a quarterback, but this one’s kind of unavoidable. Fields is at a career crossroads basically because he is not a clear-cut generational talent, and Chicago had an opportunity to draft someone who could be. The Bears are moving on with Caleb Williams, and more power to them. There still appears to be, uh, “meat left on that bone” in terms of what the dynamic Fields can offer, though, and I wouldn’t mind seeing another QB castoff follow the Baker Mayfield trajectory (formerly known as the Ryan Tannehill trajectory?) by re-establishing himself as a viable starter. (Don’t take this as anti-Russell Wilson sentiment, though. I root against no one.)
It’s hard to imagine the Steelers didn’t have conversations with Fields about some sort of role this season or else why would he have asked to be traded to Pittsburgh? We don’t know what that role is, but we’ve already talked about how making Fields a gadget quarterback isn’t in his best long-term interest.
