Veteran quarterback Russell Wilson signed a team-friendly contract to join the Pittsburgh Steelers in March, but Mark Kaboly of The Athletic predicted on Monday that Wilson will not sign an extension prior to the season.
“He will become a free agent next year, and the Steelers could lose out on him, but their hands are tied,” Kaboly claimed.
When a quarterback, 35 years old, takes a snap for you, you don’t extend him. If Wilson has a strong 2024 campaign, the Steelers must hope he will make the team his top focus.
Prior to Wilson signing with Pittsburgh, he was linked to the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders. However, in March, the Steelers also acquired Justin Fields, a 25-year-old quarterback, from the Chicago Bears for a conditional 2025 sixth-round draft pick.
Wilson is expected to open organized team activities as Pittsburgh’s quarterback, but Fields should have a chance to take over as the starter from training camp through a stretch of the preseason.
Fields’ rookie contract had a fifth-year option that Pittsburgh refused, but Kaboly believes the Steelers will attempt to sign the 2021 first-round draft pick to an extension that would keep his rights through the 2025 season.
According to Kaboly, the Green Bay Packers handled Jordan Love’s future after trading Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets during the summer, and the Steelers may do the same with a one-year extension for Fields’ fifth-year option.
The Packers knew then, of course, that unless something went horribly wrong, Love would start in Week 1 of 2023. It appears that some Steelers fans are hoping Wilson keeps Fields as a spectator for the entirety of the next campaign.
After a difficult two-season stay with the Denver Broncos, Wilson would probably want to stay if he were to revive his career with the Steelers, according to logic.
While training under Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, Fields will likely expect to be paid handsomely if he turns out to be a revelation.
The truth is that Fields might decide to gamble on himself in the end and enter September of a contract year.
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