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Steelers Had Mistaken Belief That Led to Losing Justin Fields

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Evan Massey | Last updated Mar 14, 2025 11:16 AM ET

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a tough position at the quarterback position with the NFL free agency frenzy dying down. At this point in time, they're in wait and see mode for Aaron Rodgers.

If Rodgers were to decide to pass on signing with the Steelers and head elsewhere, they could be in trouble.

Coming into the NFL offseason, Pittsburgh thought it would be able to bring back Justin Fields. They believed that based on a mistaken belief that ended up leading to him departing to the New York Jets on a two-year, $40 million contract.

That mistaken belief was revealed by NFL reporter Gregg Rosenthal.

In a post on Bluesky, Rosenthal revealed that the Steelers thought they would get a "Mike Tomlin discount" from Fields. That obviously was not the case.

"The Steelers thought they'd get a Tomlin discount and NOPE," Rosenthal wrote. "This is now bridge QB money and the Jets need one."

Losing Fields has backed Pittsburgh into a corner. They ended up changing their course of action to pursuing Rodgers heavily.

Pro Football Talk insider Mike Florio gave more information about the Pittsburgh quarterback situation and what happened with Fields. He also revealed why Rodgers has become such an aggressive target for the Steelers.

"I think the primary goal was, and they admitted it, they wanna keep either Fields or Wilson, but they wanted to go cheap and I think they went too cheap with Fields, and it blew up in their faces," Florio speculated. "That is why someone woke up and said maybe we should go out and get Aaron Rodgers. The flaw in the thinking was people believing Rodgers would come cheap."

Rodgers has given no timetable for when he will make a decision. That leaves Pittsburgh in wait and see mode until he decides what to do.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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