Is Justin Fields really an option for the Steelers?

Steelers Nation was shaken up this past week after ESPN’s Adam Schefter shared a comment that Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is a “big fan” of Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields.

Tomlin’s potential interest in Fields shouldn’t surprise anyone. During the owner’s meeting ahead of the 2022 NFL Draft, Tomlin said, “Quarterback mobility is a more significant part of the game than it’s ever been.” You can’t get a much more mobile quarterback than Fields.

After making that comment, the Steelers went on to select Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Kenny Pickett with the No. 20 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Pickett is not in the realm of the athlete that Fields is, however. Pickett can escape the pocket and scramble. Fields, however, can escape the pocket and run for a long touchdown. There’s a noticeable difference there that might be intriguing for the type of offense they’re looking to build.

The Steelers haven’t had a rushing threat from the quarterback position since Kordell Stewart. There’s something to be said for having a quarterback who can tuck the ball and scramble for forty yards, and that is something that Fields can offer his team. However, can he be more than that? Does it make sense for the Steelers to surrender the necessary draft capital to get Fields? Why is he potentially available? Before answering those questions, we’ll go back to the beginning…

Maybe the Steelers did have had some interest in Fields back then in the pre-draft process. Ben Roethlisberger didn’t look the same during the 2020 NFL season as he had before the elbow injury. Maybe they could have drafted Fields and he could have sat and watched Roethlisberger for a season then take over. However, Fields was drafted by the Bears at No. 11 overall that year, and the Steelers opted for Pickett in the following draft. Now, it could be time for the Steelers to revisit that interest of Fields, if there really ever was any, via the trade market.

Why Justin Fields is on the trade block

Fields started his career with then-head Matt Nagy, who probably didn’t get the most of him early on. In fact, Nagy didn’t do a lot of things well, and he was ultimately fired by the Bears following the 2022 season. They hired Matt Eberflus as the head coach in 2022, though the jury is still out on whether or not he’s the answer long-term.

Unfortunately, regardless of the coaching staff around him, Fields hasn’t made that jump you want to see from a quarterback as a passer. He’ll be entering his fourth NFL season in 2024, averaging just 167 passing yards, 1 TD and 0.75 INTs per game.

Of course, Fields can be every bit the rushing threat that Lamar Jackson is, but the Bears haven’t gotten the progression as a passer. A quarterback can’t just make one passing read, tuck the ball, and run. Defensive coordinators scheme too well, and there are a lot of defenders who are too fast to get away with that regularly. If you watch Justin Fields drop back to throw, and the defense maintains their gap assignments, you just don’t get that feeling that Chicago has a chance to come back if they get down.

Turnovers have also played a big part in the ups (and downs) of Fields’ career thus far. In his short career, Fields has turned the football over 55 times, including interceptions and lost fumbles. That’s not sustainable. A number like that will scare off teams in pursuit of a quarterback who wants to play a ball-control-style offense… such as the Steelers.

Beyond the question marks about Fields, it’s also worth noting that the Bears own (via trade with the Carolina Panthers) the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. Most analysts expect the Bears to use that pick and select USC quarterback Caleb Williams, and Vegas agrees, with -400 odds of being selected by the Bears and -900 odds of being drafted first off the board. If Caleb Williams is the “generational” quarterback he’s been billed as, it would be organizational malfeasance by Bears general manager Ryan Poles to pass on that kind of difference-maker at the quarterback.

…Unless a team is willing to make a Ricky Williams-type of trade offer to get up to No. 1 overall. With assumption off the board, let’s take a look at the type of trade package the Steelers would have to offer to acquire Fields.

Mock trade package for Justin Fields

What would a trade package to acquire Justin Fields look like? The following seems in the realm of possibility…

Steelers acquire:

• QB Justin Fields
• 2024 fourth-round pick (No. 111)
• 2025 fifth-round pick

Bears acquire:

• 2024 second-round pick (No. 51)
• Conditional 2026 third-round pick

One would assume based on this trade that the Steelers would pick up Fields’ fifth-year option for the 2025 season, projected to be worth $25 million. There would be no point in the Steelers trading that kind of draft capital and not picking up the fifth-year option.

Another likely outcome of such a move would be that Pickett requests a trade from the Steelers. Is Fields an upgrade at the quarterback position over Kenny Pickett?

The Steelers need to swing big at the position, or risk falling further behind the rest of the AFC. However, that’s a significant commitment, and it would be a total about-face from everything the Steelers have said publicly about Pickett. It’s not something that we have seen from them in the past, nor is it something that seems entirely likely for now.

Even if Mike Tomlin does like Fields, this just isn’t something the Steelers do… even if it may be something that they should do.