The Pittsburgh Steelers have been busy addressing their quarterback situation during the 2024 NFL offseason.
They have added two potential starters in Justin Fields and Russell Wilson and even brought in anew third QB in Kyle Allen.
None of them are currently under contract past the 2024 season.
It looks like that could change before the season begins.
In a chat for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Gerry Dulac was asked if the Steelers would work on the contract situations for Wilson or Fields before the season begins. He said the team won’t be working on a deal for Wilson until next offseason, but he wouldn’t be surprised if they got something done with Fields.
“They won’t during the season. They’ll re-visit Wilson after the season. That is the intention of both parties. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did something sooner with Fields.”
Steelers’ Uncertain Future at QB
The Steelers are set at QB for the 2024 season. Whether it’s Fields or Wilson that is the starter next season, the Steelers are going to be getting better play out of the position than they did in 2023.
From there, things get a bit murky.
Wilson is coming off of two of the toughest seasons of his career and is currently 35 years old.
That makes it difficult to try and plan a team’s future around him.
Meanwhile, Fields has had struggles of his own during his three years in the league and is only under contract until the end of the 2024 season.
The team could decide to pick up the fifth-year option on his contract, but with just under a month left to make that decision, it seems unlikely that is the path they will take.
With no QB currently under contract for the Steelers beyond next season, it makes a lot of sense for the Steelers to get an extension for Fields done before the season begins.
The Case for a Fields Extension
Fields has been far from a perfect QB since making the jump to the NFL, but he is probably the best option the Steelers have right now.
Fields has been inconsistent throwing the ball over the last three years, but he has still shown that he is a dynamic threat at QB.
He ran for 1143 yards in 2022 and averaged just over 50 rushing yards per game in 2023.
Fields has also shown some improvement throwing the ball from year to year.
More importantly, the Steelers just aren’t going to have many other options.
We saw what happened when Ben Roethlisberger retired. The team got desperate and drafted Kenny Pickett in round one.
If they leave themselves without a QB after 2024, they could once again find themselves getting desperate again in the 2025 draft.
Unfortunately, the Steelers are a good enough team that they probably aren’t going to be set up to get one of the top QBs in next year’s draft.
That would leave them once again needing to decide if they are going to reach on a prospect just to fill the need.
Instead, they could give themselves a fighting chance with Fields and work out a deal that is more team friendly than whatever they might have to agree to if Fields becomes their starter in 2024 and looks good for them.
It’s not a perfect situation for the Steelers to be in, but working out an extension for Fields while his value is low is a move that could work out very well for the organization.
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Insider ‘Wouldn’t Be Surprised’ If 1 Steelers QB Gets Extended Before Season