How Russell Wilson, Justin Fields Fit Into Steelers’ Future Plans

Can Pittsburgh retain both quarterbacks this offseason? Plus, the top candidates for the Bears’ head coaching job and more in Albert Breer’s mailbag.

The Steelers are 5–1 with Wilson as the starting quarterback. / Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

I’m writing through the pain of a tough weekend of college football, one that probably can only be cured by a national championship. Anyway, you had plenty to ask this week. I had some answers, too …

From Kyle Schrader (@Kyle__Schrader): Do you see a scenario where the Steelers keep Fields and Wilson this offseason?

Well, Kyle, the path there is narrow.

Start here: The Pittsburgh Steelers, as a rule, don’t negotiate with agents during the season. I did check in a couple of weeks back and there was no plan to change that to accommodate a tricky situation at quarterback. Additionally, while Russell Wilson’s been really good, I don’t think he’s been good enough to justify a franchise tag of between $40 million and $45 million. Obviously, that number is not happening for Justin Fields either, which means that all either guy has to do to make it to free agency is, well, let it happen.

That’s a tough spot for a team to be in at quarterback. And my guess would be in the case of Wilson, if he plays well and Pittsburgh makes a nice playoff run, then there may be enough of a divide in a negotiation that the Steelers could let him hit the market and ask him to give them the right to match whatever is out there. Meanwhile, I’d think Fields would be looking for a Sam Darnold type of shot to start somewhere on a one-year deal.

So, for all this to come together, and for both guys to be back next year, I think Wilson’s value would have to land in a place where, after he hits the market, the Steelers would be able to sign a second veteran quarterback contract and Fields’s pursuit of a shot to start somewhere else would have to fail. Either that, or Wilson flattens out the rest of the year, and he and Fields both would have to come back on reasonable deals.

This much I can say, Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith have gotten Wilson to a place where they can be blunt and honest with him, and they have a blueprint that works for everyone now. And both those guys believe Fields has a bright future, and want to keep working with him too. So it’ll be interesting to see how this all looks in another three-and-a-half months.

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From Daniel Coltun (@danielcoltun): Do you think the Bears will hire an offensive minded coach to assist with Caleb’s development?

Daniel, I think they need more than a quarterback guru. Yes, the development of Caleb Williams is very, very important. But I don’t think getting laser focused on just that is the answer for an organization that has been chaotic in its hiring patterns on coaches—going back and forth between offense and defense, and taskmaster and players’ coach.

They need someone who’s going to be strong enough to manage up, and get the football operation what it needs to break out of all that’s held it back for over a decade, and, no offense to anyone in particular, there’s no answer for that on a playsheet.

Could you kill two birds with one stone? You’d have to hire a Sean McVay, who has both the Tomlin personality and Mike Shanahan football acumen (be sure to let me know who that is when you find out), and that type of coach isn’t easy to come by. So, given the choice and based on where the team is, I’m going for a Mike Vrabel or Aaron Glenn style of leader, who can do for the Chicago Bears what Dan Campbell did for the Detroit Lions.

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Carr and the Saints have struggled, falling to a 4–8 record. / Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

From darrell samels Jr (@JrSamels): Will Gayle Benson override anything Mickey Loomis since he tried to keep Dennis Allen and QB outlook for 25?

Darrell, it’s instructive in answering this one, to go back over how the firing of Dennis Allen happened. Mickey Loomis didn’t want to do it (as I’d heard it, he felt like Allen had done enough for the franchise to spare him the indignity of a midseason firing) and Gayle Benson went through with it anyway because of rising apathy from a once-intense fan base.

That tells me that Benson could certainly follow her instincts if she doesn’t like the direction of a Loomis-led coaching search (and I’m not saying in any way that’s about to happen) and go the other way.

As for the quarterback situation, $10 million of the $40 million that Derek Carr is due in 2025 is fully guaranteed, so if a new administration wants to move on, they could. The thing is, until we know who is involved in that new administration, it’s hard to say under what terms Carr would be back in ’24. It’s fair to guess it might not be at the full $40 million, and fair, too, to assume that looking for a quarterback in the draft will be a part of the plan.

(The Saints face the same issue other quarterback-needy teams would, in that the class coming out doesn’t look like it’ll have many, if any, franchise-level answers).

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From Tom Nipper (@nipdaddy): Will the Bears have to wait until the season is over to interview guys like Ben Johnson and Kliff Kingsbury? Would be beneficial if they could start sooner.

Yes, Tom, they do. Only coaches who aren’t currently employed by NFL teams, like Vrabel or even Lincoln Riley, can be interviewed before the end of the season.

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From KTA (@keiteay): What, if anything, does the Walker Little extension say about Baalke's job status with the Jags?

KTA, Little’s extension caught my attention for that reason too. If you’re planning on firing everyone in January, do you let the general manager negotiate this sort of extension with a player like Little? And by a player like Little, I mean a developmental guy who only became a full-time starter for the team six weeks ago, after the Jacksonville Jaguars’ previous long-term left tackle, Cam Robinson, was dealt away to the Minnesota Vikings.

Now, Little didn’t get huge money, and if he winds up becoming a top-shelf left tackle, which isn’t an impossibility since he’s always had a high ceiling, then this three-year, $45 million extension will look like a bargain. The flip side would be concern that this is Trent Baalke using a contract to confirm another one of his draft picks as a success. And it’s pretty easy to argue that that sort of thing is precisely why the Jaguars have too many good players making great money on their roster.

To be clear, if this was an obvious move that would be done regardless of who’s running the show—like the Cincinnati Bengals, re-signing Ja’Marr Chase—then I’d say there is nothing to see here. But that’s not what this is. So my radar would be up, too.

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From Maggie5 (@MaggieNaper5): I know I have given you shit in regards to your love of all things Ohio State, but I will tip my cap to you with your takes on this past weekend’s edition of The Game.

Thanks, Maggie. I’m still sick over the final score, to be honest.

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From johnwinger (@johnwinger98524): Is Bo Nix for REAL? Or is he this season’s Mac Jones? A guy readymade coming out of college who may always be good but never have a high ceiling or be great?

John, that’s a fair question. While I think Bo Nix has a better skill set than Mac Jones did coming out—he’s faster, stronger and has a better arm—it’s fair to say that he may be closer physically to Jones than he is to the true top end at the position. This means, like Jones, he has to walk a narrower path to stardom.

That said, he’s already got two boxes checked that aren’t givens for young quarterbacks coming into the league. He’s with a great offensive coach who isn’t going anywhere in a system that fits him perfectly. And to me, that widens the path considerably.

Now, the Denver Broncos still have a ways to go in building around Nix. But, you can see where they’re starting to put ancillary pieces, like rookies Troy Franklin, Audric Estime and Devaughn Vele, around him. And in a year, they’ll be out from under the damage of the Wilson contract, which should allow them to get a little more aggressive on the veteran market.

So, will Nix ascend to the Patrick Mahomes/Josh Allen/Joe Burrow/Lamar Jackson tier at his position? Maybe not. But Sean Payton certainly can compete with him, and Payton’s grade, which put him second among all QBs in the 2024 class, seems more justified now.

Nix has looked solid in his rookie campaign, with the Broncos riding a three-game winning streak. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

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From Jim Doss (@jbd3jd): Do you think the Commanders look to upgrade the WR position next year through an FA signing like Tee Higgins?

Sure, and I do think the Washington Commanders are working with an edge here. They don’t need a No. 1, Terry McLaurin is that guy, and Washington should get him extended before they add anyone else at the position.

That said, Higgins is an interesting one because he’s a very different type of receiver than McLaurin—and Higgins wouldn’t have to be a No. 1 in Washington after being the No. 2 in Cincinnati to Chase. He’d bring size and physicality to the Commanders’ receiver room, and the more I think about this idea, the more I like it.

After that, most of the guys out there are third-contract guys. You could entice Stefon Diggs, coming back off a serious knee injury, to come home and finish out his career in D.C. Chris Godwin is another savvy, seasoned vet coming off a significant injury, who grew up (relatively) local to Washington. Amari Cooper and Dan Quinn were together in Dallas in 2021.

So, there’ll be options out there—and the lure of playing with Jayden Daniels and for Quinn, with the year the Commanders are having, won’t hurt either.

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From Wolverine (@The_Zone_Blitz1): Based on how easily Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant handled the Suckeyes run game…are they both locks in the top 20 picks of next year’s draft?

Thanks, Zone. Both are really good players.

I’d say Graham probably goes a little higher than Grant. If I had to guess, Graham goes in the first half of the first round and Grant goes in the back half of the first round. But, we still have a long way to go until April, and I haven’t really started to make all the calls I generally do leading up to the draft.

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From Emilio Lizardo (@ElectClayDavis): Am I in hell?

I’m slowly clawing my way out. What a terrible loss.

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From Jason Kroulik (@crowlick): Do you think OSU will fire Ryan Day? If so, any idea on a coach they’d like to hire?

I don’t think they will, Jason. If he were to leave on his own at some point, I’d put Vrabel, Marcus Freeman, Luke Fickell and Brian Hartline on the list. There’s a very, very deep well of really good coaches with strong connections to the program. Vrabel, to me, would be the sort of grand-slam hire Urban Meyer was in 2012, if the time eventually comes.

Day has faced intense scrutiny after a tough loss to Michigan. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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From Jeff Gold (@JeffGold81): Obviously the Giants and Raiders are totally desperate to take QBs at the top of the first round. How would you assess the level of desperation for the Titans and Browns to take a QB with their first round pick? Thanks.

Jeff, I think the Las Vegas Raiders could be under a de facto mandate from ownership to draft one in April, similar to the spot the Indianapolis Colts were in two Aprils ago. The New York Giants have already been looking intently at the market—they’ve had multiple live exposures to all the top quarterbacks in the draft class this fall, I’m told—but I don’t see them forcing it if it’s not there. And I think the Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans will also take that sort of approach.

The biggest problem, of course, is the state of the class itself. Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders is seen as the best of the bunch, and scouts see him as a good, not great, prospect. Georgia’s Carson Beck has had a rough year after deciding to come back. Miami’s Cam Ward has been much better, but he was barely on scouts’ radars coming into the year, so I don’t know exactly how much he could climb. Ole Miss’s Jaxson Dart, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Texas’s Quinn Ewers may be more in the Day 2 range. LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier might not even come out.

It's not a great year to need a QB. This means pushing something that might not be there could be a dangerous trap threatening any team that’s desperate to find a QB.

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From David Kromelow (@dkrom59): Do you see Lions OC Ben Johnson becoming the new Bears head coach, or do you think the Bears’ history of frugality when it comes to hiring head coaches precludes that from happening?

David, I think last year, the Bears might’ve been at the top of Johnson’s list, had that job come open. Will it be the same this year, given how things went with George Halas’s franchise? Is an offensive guru even really what Chicago needs? I think those are questions worth contemplating.

It is my understanding that Johnson will be pretty measured this year in what he considers, given how happy he is with his situation in Detroit.

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From Yap (@Yapybara): If Daboll becomes available, is there any interest from Patriots into replacing AVP?

I mean, I’d think that would be a consideration if there were to be a change. Brian Daboll was in New England as an assistant for the final three years of Jerod Mayo’s playing career and obviously has a history of developing young quarterbacks that would be attractive. That said, Alex Van Pelt’s done a good job bringing Drake Maye along, and I’m not sure, at this point, that there’s real reason to risk messing with Maye’s growth by pulling the plug on his first OC.

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From TCFan (@TCFan08): Why are you such a talentless hack?

Good question, TC. It’s probably a deep-rooted thing.