The Chicago Bears knew a change was necessary at quarterback. GM Ryan Poles wanted to find somebody that fit his vision for the organization. To do that, the first step was settling the Justin Fields question. That meant finding the embattled quarterback a new home. Poles could’ve sent him anywhere. Merely take the highest offer on the trade market. However, the GM tried to be accommodating, sending Fields somewhere he’d have a good chance to grow and get a genuine opportunity to start again. That process landed him with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Expectations were he’d compete with veteran Russell Wilson for the starting job. However, recent accounts suggest the Steelers might not be taking that idea seriously. Pro Bowl defensive lineman Cam Heyward has a podcast called Not Just Football, where he had teammate Jaylen Warren on as a guest. It was there that the running back dropped a small bombshell. Apparently, the Steelers are considering Fields for their kick returner role following the new NFL rule changes.
One can safely say the quarterback didn’t have that in mind when he greenlit the trade two months ago.
That development paints a clear picture for Justin Fields.
Pittsburgh doesn’t consider him a real threat to Wilson for the quarterback job. There is no way in hell the team would put their starting quarterback on kick returns and risk injuries if they thought Fields had any chance of winning such a competition. Wilson was always going to be a starter. Fields was always going to be his backup. Pittsburgh will say differently. “This is a genuine competition.” Blah, blah, blah. Actions speak louder than words. Considering Fields for return duties proves they have no intention of getting him anywhere near the starting job.
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That is a sad development. Nobody worked harder to improve his game last year in Chicago than Justin Fields. If he weren’t so late into his rookie contract, the Bears might’ve given him another season. Sadly, obtaining the #1 pick and his expiring deal made their decision clear. Now he’s ironically found himself in the exact same situation as another former Bears 1st round quarterback: a Steelers backup. Granted, his odds of unseating Wilson were never great. The gap between the two was considerable. Still, one would think Pittsburgh would be less obvious about it.
Good idea. You pay him money to play football, put him where he can make a difference.
This story is further BS to drive home the decision to take Caleb Williams. However, Justin will compete for the QB job, and should, with smart coaching, gain the job for next season. Justin will not be running back kickoffs. Only an ignorant writer who doesn’t do his homework would spit out this garbage. Remember, the Steelers signed Cordarrelle Patterson during the off season…the NFL’s all time kick off return man, even passing Hester for kick offs, and Patterson ranks 2nd in NFL history for yards per kickoffs returned, by only a slight margin to Gayle Sayers. So, NO, the… Read more »
To be fair, I am unclear how many teams run their special teams plans through a time share running back for approval and public dissemination. Even if Fields backs up Wilson to start the year, you don’t risk your backup on kickoffs. That would be very dumb. Since I don’t think Mike Tomlin is dumb, I don’t think this is a real story.
What the hell is everyone talking about here? Lambert writes anything about Fields and there is still enough interest in Fields to draw comment. @Tred analysis of the Fields draft by Ryan Pace, and the subsequent administration’s handling of redirecting the entire team, the lack of consideration of coaching while everyone was distracted with a #1 draft picks was just unfortunate. Some think Fields is just a not-so-great quarterback while everyone thinks he’s a great athlete and great kid (who is 25 and already has 3 years of starter experience while having to work with – and at the direction… Read more »
It’s interesting how different people make interpretations of “what the hear.” Lambert hears and writes this as: “a sad development,” while I heard the same thing (from a different source) and thought, “just spit ballin’). I also heard “tight end” too. If you were IN the SUPER BOWL, and it was a close game, would you use Justin Fields as your kick returner OR tight end, or quarterback or wide receiver? Would you consider everything to win THAT game? But if you were kicking the hell out of the Aaron Rodgers Jets, you’d probably put Fields in to quarterback for… Read more »