The Pittsburgh Steelers chose not to re-sign Justin Fields during the offseason, and we now know why.
The Pittsburgh Steelers decided to go in an entirely different direction at quarterback this past offseason, parting ways with both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields and signing Aaron Rodgers. They also selected Will Howard in the sixth round of the NFL Draft.
But why did the Steelers let Fields walk after the Ohio State product actually showed some flashes for the team in six starts last year?
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated revealed the reason why in a recent mailbag, explaining that Pittsburgh simply did not feel its ceiling was high enough with Fields under center.
"They actually did look really hard at bringing back Justin Fields, but what stopped them, as best I could ascertain it, was that they needed to find a way to move the needle at that spot to become more than the fringe playoff team they’ve been the past few years," Breer wrote.
Fields made 10 appearances over for the Steelers in 2024, throwing for 1,106 yards, five touchdowns and an interception while completing 65.8 percent of his passes and posting a 93.3 passer rating.
New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields. Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images.He began the season as the starter with Wilson nursing a calf injury, but was quickly relegated to a bench role once Wilson returned.
The former first-round pick then signed a two-year deal with the New York Jets in free agency and will almost surely serve as nothing more than a stopgap quarterback for the Jets until they can find a signal-caller in the NFL Draft.
Fields was originally selected by the Chicago Bears with the 11th overall pick back in 2021 and spent three years with the Bears before being traded to the Steelers during the spring of 2024. Chicago had the No. 1 overall pick last year and decided to roll with Caleb Williams, ending Fields' unsuccessful tenure in the Windy City.
There is no doubt that Fields has some talent, but he has been unable to put it all together and has been frustratingly inconsistent.
Pittsburgh was almost certainly never going to make a deep playoff run with Fields taking snaps, so it probably made the right decision to let him go.
There is a reason why Fields is now on his third team in five seasons.