The Pittsburgh Steelers have had an issue with their roster since the 2021 season. What happened in 2021, you ask? That was the year Ben Roethlisberger decided to call it a career and step away from the game. With that decision, the organization has now entered a quarterback purgatory ever since.

It was the 2022 NFL Draft which saw the team take the only quarterback in the 1st Round, taking Kenny Pickett out of Pittsburgh with the 20th overall pick. As we saw last offseason, the honeymoon between Pickett and the Steelers didn’t last long, and the organization completely revamped their quarterback room heading into 2024.

But with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields both in the fold now, they are both in situations where they are essentially on one-year contracts in 2024. Fans of the Steelers are hopeful one of these two quarterbacks can elevate their game to the point where they earn a new contract with the Steelers, but there is a real chance the Steelers find themselves in the same situation next offseason with no quarterback under contract on the roster.

ESPN recently attempted to decipher whether some narratives were overreactions or not, and the narrative surrounding the Steelers was whether the team would be in the quarterback market again in 2024. Take a look at the reasoning behind their decision:

The Steelers will be in the QB market again next spring

With the Kenny Pickett experiment having failed, the Steelers signed free agent veteran Russell Wilson and traded for deposed Bears quarterback Justin Fields this offseason. Those two will battle it out to see who starts for Pittsburgh this season, but neither is signed beyond this season, and the Steelers didn’t need to commit significant resources to acquire either of them.

Wilson — who threw 26 touchdown passes in 2023 but also averaged just 6.9 yards per attempt — is playing on a minimum salary deal because he still has $39 million in guaranteed money left over from his Broncos contract. And Fields — who tied Wilson’s 6.9 yards per attempt last season but also rushed for 657 yards — only cost the Steelers a sixth-round pick that could convert to a fourth-rounder if Fields plays enough snaps in 2024.

The expectation is that the combination of Wilson and Fields will be an upgrade over what the Steelers had at quarterback last season, and the hope is that at least one of them plays well enough to merit a look as the long-term starter in Pittsburgh.

Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION

While these are exciting, recognizable names and the Steelers are coming off a year in which they used Pickett and Mason Rudolph at quarterback, there remains the non-zero chance that neither Wilson nor Fields plays well. Wilson is coming off two miserable campaigns in Denver, and Fields is a still-developing prospect who didn’t advance enough in his first three seasons to convince the Bears not to draft Caleb Williams to replace him. And as shown by what the Steelers paid to acquire Wilson and Fields, Pittsburgh wasn’t exactly fighting off half the league for the two QBs’ services.

The Steelers have never had a losing record under coach Mike Tomlin, which means they’ve never really selected high enough to find a true franchise quarterback in the draft. That means they have to find creative solutions in the post-Ben Roethlisberger era. But the two potential solutions they found this offseason are unquestionably imperfect ones, so don’t be at all surprised if they find themselves in the same situation next spring.

The quarterback narrative of the Steelers being in the market, again, in 2025 is very real, but that doesn’t mean either quarterback couldn’t play their way into a second contract. The absolutely worst-case scenario for the Steelers would be if Russell Wilson either gets hurt, or is ineffective. The team then turns to Fields for a spark, but receives a dud. Otherwise, the Steelers are absolutely in a position to give one of these two quarterbacks a contract after this year.

Who will it be? That will be one of the most talked about narratives this season/next offseason, but one thing is for sure…the hope is the Steelers are NOT in this same boat a year from now.

Be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for training camp on July 24th.