Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports reports that the Steelers have maintained an open dialogue with free agent QBs Russell Wilson and Justin Fields and are hoping to retain one of them as their start for the 2025 season.
According to Schultz, the Jets are believed to be “most interested” in Fields while the Giants are in on Wilson.
The Giants are exploring a number of options at quarterback this offseason including Aaron Rodgers.
The Jets have talked up veteran QB Tyrod Taylor and could be a candidate to draft a quarterback this year. However, it sounds like they will at least consider some free agent options.
Fields, 25, was selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Bears out of Ohio State. Chicago traded up to No. 15 overall with the Giants to get Fields and parted with their 2022 first-round pick in the process.
He signed a four-year rookie deal worth $18,871,956 with a signing bonus of $11,085,059 that also included a fifth-year option to pick up on him in 2024 worth $21.978 million guaranteed for the 2025 season.
The Bears traded Fields to the Steelers for a conditional 2025 sixth-round pick that can improve to a fourth-round pick if Fields plays 51 percent of the snaps in 2024. Pittsburgh declined Fields’ fifth-year option.
In 2024, Fields started six games for the Steelers and completed 65.8 percent of his pass attempts for 1,106 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception. He has also rushed 60 times for 274 yards and five touchdowns.
Wilson, 36, is a former third-round pick of the Seahawks back in 2012. He was entering the final year of his five-year, $89.142 million contract when the Seahawks signed him to a four-year, $140 million extension that included a $65 million signing bonus.
The Seahawks traded him to the Broncos in 2022 in a blockbuster deal. Wilson stood to make base salaries of $19 million and $22 million over the final two years of his deal when he agreed to a new five-year, $245 million extension that included $165 million in guaranteed money.
However, Wilson didn’t even reach the new portion of his deal before being released by the Broncos, who absorbed a record $85 million dead cap hit. The Steelers later signed him to a one-year contract for the veteran minimum.
In 2024, Wilson appeared in 11 games for the Steelers and completed 63.7 percent of his pass attempts for 2,482 yards, 16 touchdowns, and five interceptions. He added 43 carries for 155 yards and two touchdowns.
