National Football League

Will Justin Fields eventually replace Russell Wilson as Pittsburgh Steelers starting QB?

Updated Mar. 20, 2024 12:34 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback room next season will look vastly different from how it did in 2023. Pittsburgh now has two signal-callers who started for different teams last season.

After signing Russell Wilson to a one-year, $1,210,000 contract in early March after his release from the Denver Broncos, the Steelers announced that he wouldn't be challenged for the starting spot. But that didn't mean they would stand pat in the QB market.

Five days after signing Wilson, Pittsburgh shipped the 2022 first-round pick and 2023 starting quarterback Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles in a trade, before sending a conditional 2025 sixth-round pick to the Chicago Bears in exchange for Justin Fields.

Though the Steelers have reportedly still indicated that Wilson will be the first-string quarterback heading into the season, "First Things First" host Nick Wright does not believe he'll last long under center.

"I don't think it's gonna be a platoon," Wright said Tuesday during an appearance on "The Herd."

"This is a great spot for Justin Fields, because Russell Wilson is not good anymore," Wright said. "Somebody put out a highlight package of Russell Wilson and said, ‘This is what the Steelers are getting.’ In the second clip in the highlight, do you know who missed a tackle on Russell Wilson? Jerod Mayo, who's now the coach of the Patriots.

"I expect Russell to be the Week 1 starter, and I expect Justin to be the Week 7 or 8 starter and to start the rest of the way. And that is not so much because I think Justin is a great player. I think he does have a lot of potential and we'll see if he can finally harness it on a consistent basis. But I know what Russell Wilson is right now — he's a quarterback who will be benched by the Pittsburgh Steelers."

Fields has talent for days, but he has not quite been able to put things together at the NFL level during his three seasons in the bears. Wilson, meanwhile, was once one of the best quarterbacks in football and is eager to prove he can still excel as a starter in the NFL. But if Wright is correct, Wilson's glory days are gone, and Fields will be the man in Pittsburgh before the midway point of the season.

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