Insider floats starting QB idea for Steelers

For a piece published Monday afternoon, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated explained why he thinks the Pittsburgh Steelers shouldn't be in a rush to name veteran Russell Wilson their starting quarterback over Justin Fields.

"Through the spring, neither Wilson nor Justin Fields lit the world on fire in Pittsburgh," Breer wrote. "But what the staff did see was a motivated Wilson, who benefitted from the competition Fields was giving him. So I’ll be interested to see how long Pittsburgh waits to shut down any notion of one."

There seemingly wasn't much of a quarterback competition in Pittsburgh from organized team activities through mandatory minicamps. While Wilson emerged as the alleged "undisputed leader" of the Steelers offense ahead of the club's summer break, Fields reportedly struggled with accuracy issues and flashed few signs that he'll leapfrog the one-time Super Bowl champion on the depth chart before Pittsburgh's regular-season opener at the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 8.

Wilson and Fields currently are one-year rentals who could sign extensions at any point or reach free agency in March 2025. Breer suggested that Wilson may need to be pushed by Fields through the summer after the 35-year-old largely failed to impress with the Denver Broncos across the past two seasons.

"Yes, it can help to fully declare your starter," Breer added. "But there is something to the benefit the Steelers are getting from having two guys in contract years battling to get on, and stay on, the field. And if the benefit to this point has been Wilson operating like he’s got horse blinders on, maybe it wouldn’t make a ton of sense to go away from that."

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has plenty of time to wait and see if Fields can flip a figurative switch and become a revelation before Pittsburgh concludes its preseason with a game at the Detroit Lions on Aug. 24. It's unclear if Wilson has any real concerns about possibly losing the QB1 gig to Fields before September, but Tomlin may agree that promising Wilson nothing through at least one preseason contest could be the best way to handle the competition.