The Pittsburgh Steelers swung a deal to acquire quarterback Justin Fields in a trade with the Chicago Bears earlier this month, and Cleveland Browns signal-caller Deshaun Watson is not a fan of it.
Why? Because the Steelers had already signed Russell Wilson.
“For me, and I’m very on the conservative side, so I think Russell’s gonna be better,” Watson said on his QB Unplugged podcast. “I think they should have a competition, best man wins, at the end of the day, but to each his own. That’s their own organization, they said Russell’s the guy. I think if he’s the guy, I think Justin could have went to a better situation so he can play.”
The thing is, that situation did not seem to be available for Fields, which was why the Bears had to settle for trading Fields to Pittsburgh for a sixth-round draft pick.
Plus, Chicago general manager Ryan Poles said the team wanted to do right by Fields in trading him, so evidently, Fields actually wanted to go to the Steelers.
The good news for Fields is that he should have an opportunity to start relatively soon.
Wilson is 35 years old, and he only signed a one-year deal with Pittsburgh. Plus, based on how he played in his two seasons with the Denver Broncos, there may even be a chance that Fields ends up supplanting him as the starter sometime next season.
Fields, who played his collegiate football at Ohio State, was selected by the Bears with the 11th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft.
While the 25-year-old showed some flashes of brilliance, his career has mostly been defined by inconsistency, as evidenced by his 10-28 record as a starter.
Fields seemed to be on the verge of a breakout this past year, particularly between Weeks 4 and 5 when he totaled eight passing touchdowns and one interception. But in Week 6, Fields dislocated his thumb, causing him to miss then next four games.
On the 2023 campaign overall, Fields threw for 2,562 yards, 16 touchdowns and nine picks while completing 61.4 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 86.3. He also rushed for 657 yards and four scores.
In the end, Deshaun Watson should probably be more worried about his own status in Cleveland than he should be about Justin Fields’ situation in Pittsburgh.
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