A season’s end always calls for reflection, and the 2024 Steelers are no different. With that in mind, it might be worth revisiting offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s comments from the week Mike Tomlin pivoted from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson at quarterback.
Specifically, Smith was asked what he felt like Wilson could do to make the offense better.
“Well, I don't know if that's necessarily the perspective,” Smith said. “I understand the question. ... I think Justin has done a good job. By no means has anybody been perfect around here, but it's about winning. We wish we were 6-0. We're not. You are what your record says you are, so we're 4-2.”
And later in that same news conference ...
“I think his confidence should be high,” Smith said of Fields. “He's 4-2. He's been pretty productive. So whatever Mike [Tomlin] tells us to do, like I said, I’ll have it ready either way. That's my job.”
Assuming Smith is back for a second season as the play caller, perhaps he’ll throw his weight behind what he can do with Fields. That’d be a simple answer to the Steelers’ quarterback predicament, which is that neither Fields nor Russell Wilson is under contract for 2025.
But if it’s more complex than that, the Steelers will need to do what they did this time a year ago and survey the quarterback landscape. That includes the draft, free agency and the trade market. Tomlin was open on Tuesday that he and general manager Omar Khan will be blocking off some time this week to begin looking at their options. We might as well do the same thing here:
Draft
Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders are widely viewed as the top two quarterbacks in this class at this point, a la Caleb Williams/Jayden Daniels last year or Bryce Young/C.J. Stroud the year prior. But there’s not likely to be a Drake Maye or Anthony Richardson behind them, putting this group somewhere between the past two drafts and that 2022 one in which Kenny Pickett led the way.
The next tier of quarterbacks includes the likes of Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart and Texas’ Quinn Ewers. It’s early to predict whether one or any would be available to the Steelers at the 21st overall pick.
Then you’ll have the less heralded prospects who improved their stock this season, such as Ohio State’s Will Howard and Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard, matching up in the national championship next week. It does not appear to be a good year to find an instant-impact starter and maybe not even an eventual franchise quarterback, at least not if you’re picking outside the top 10.
Free agency
All things considered, the intrigue here could be even worse than the draft. Without knowing who will become a cap casualty at the position, the 2025 class of quarterback free agents is headlined by Sam Darnold, Jameis Winston and Daniel Jones.
Late-career veterans such as Joe Flacco, Jacoby Brissett, Andy Dalton, Carson Wentz and Jimmy Garoppolo will be available, as they almost always are. Mid-career backups such as Mason Rudolph, Mac Jones, Zach Wilson, Drew Lock and Tyler Huntley are set to be out there, too.
Barring any surprise cuts, it’s enough to make you think Fields and Wilson will be the belles of the ball. And the dearth of options might drive up their asking price, too.
Trade
Don’t even entertain the notion of a Trevor Lawrence or Kyler Murray, both of whom have massive contracts committed to them that would leave their franchises in dire salary cap straits. Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins aren’t quite as cost-prohibitive to move on from, but at this point, an interested suitor might just be better off waiting for their teams to release them.
There’s also the reclamation project route, which they took last offseason with Fields. Will Levis figures to be done in Tennessee after two rocky seasons. The Colts and 2023 No. 4 pick Anthony Richardson have not been a good match, though that’s in large part his own doing.
A savvier and more affordable move would be to scour depth charts for talent blocked by their current circumstances, then bring that player in and give him a chance to compete in Pittsburgh, whatever that looks like. Malik Willis, whom the Steelers studied extensively in the 2022 pre-draft process, was much improved from his Titans stint when he started two games for the Packers this season, but he’s stuck behind Jordan Love.
Tanner McKee is the third-stringer in Philadelphia behind Jalen Hurts and Pickett, yet he lit up the Giants and Cowboys in limited action at the end of the season. And Joe Milton, a sixth-round pick in this past draft, made some jaw-dropping plays for the Patriots in Week 18 but won’t be unseating Drake Maye.
They’re all flawed players, of course, but the Steelers have had a flawed quarterback situation more often than not over the past five years. Now they’re back up to the plate, and the whole league is wondering how big of a swing they’ll take.
First Published: January 16, 2025, 10:00 a.m.
Updated: January 17, 2025, 1:27 p.m.