Justin Fields Given Chance to 'Compete' at QB by Steelers

The Steelers plan to give Justin Fields the chance to compete with Russell Wilson at quarterback, according to reports from the owners meetings.

Dec 31, 2023; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields (1) passes against / Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports

While Bears GM Ryan Poles was telling reporters at the NFL owners meetings in Orlando how difficult it had been to trade Justin Fields, the Pittsburgh Steelers were thankful to have the Chicago starting QB over the last three seasons.

"He oozes talent and potential," coach Mike Tomlin told reporters in Orlando, according to Noah Strackbein of FanNation's All Steelers. "He's worn the responsibility of being a franchise quarterback, but still, he gets an opportunity to come into a community-like situation and learn from a guy who's been doing it for over a decade. There's a lot of meat left on that bone, man. I'm just excited about working to be a part of extracting it."

The plan for Pittsburgh is to start Russell Wilson but they have a backup with 38 games of starting experience.

"We're excited about the guys that we have in Justin and Russell," Tomlin told reporters. "Just really can't wait to get started."

They had Kenny Pickett as starter and Mason Rudolph as backup before acquiring both Fields and Wilson. The Bears obtained only a conditional sixth-round pick for the 2025 draft from the Steelers in return for Fields. The pick can be as high as a fourth-rounder if Fields starts 51% of games.

"In the days following our acquisition of Russell, Kenny expressed his desire for a change of scenery," Tomlin said at the meetings. "As I mentioned, we have been in pretty fluid communication with Chicago.

"After we got a sense of what direction that was going, the dominoes started to fall and we did the transactions necessary to send Kenny to Philly and acquire Justin."

While it hasn't been specifically spelled out about Fields being called "the backup," it's all but a given.

"Rest assured, when it's time to compete, Justin will be given an opportunity to compete, and we'll allow those guys to sort themselves out, but I thought it was appropriate to describe it in a way that I described as we get started," Tomlin said.

It's described as a mentor-student relationship.

"Just from my conversations with Justin, I know he's excited about working alongside Russell and maybe learning some of those veteran tricks of the trade and veteran things that he's picked up from being in this league for over a decade," Tomlin added.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven