Rooney spoke to a small group of media members Monday to reflect on the 2024 season and what’s next
Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II spoke to a small group of media members on Monday to put a bow on the 2024 NFL season and what’s to come next for the historic franchise. Naturally, with quarterbacks Justin Fields and Russell Wilson each set to hit free agency in 2025, there was reportedly plenty of discussion on the future of the position moving forward.
Steelers beat reporter Mark Kaboly shared on social media following the media session, “Art Rooney II just spoke to a dozen of us. He really harped on finding a quarterback. Said that he would like to have either Russell Wilson or Justin Fields back, but No. 1 on the list is fixing the QB room.”
Several reporters present for Monday’s media session noted Rooney’s specific comments regarding the potential re-signing of either Wilson or Fields — not both. It’s unclear to this point which of the two quarterbacks the franchise would prefer long-term, but there’s no doubt that Fields would probably be the smarter option overall, undoubtedly less expensive than Wilson with, one could argue, infinitely more upside given his age and potential for development.
According to Spotrac, Fields projects to earn a one-year, $8,853,539 contract in free agency this offseason. The four quarterback contracts used for comparison are Jameis Winston (signed at 26 years old), Jimmy Garoppolo (30 years), Jacoby Brissett (30 years) and Sam Darnold (26 years). Fields will turn 26 years old in March heading into his fifth season.
Wilson, on the other hand, was calculated with a market value of $38.7 million average annual salary, likely to earn a two-year deal. While his experience can sometimes be considered a strength, it still seems like an expensive ticket to punch for a quarterback set to turn 37 in November, without the kind of mobility that was the cornerstone of playstyle early on in his career.
Rooney, GM Omar Khan and HC Mike Tomlin will have a big decision to make this offseason, but there’s no doubt it would be doing the franchise a massive disservice to not, at the very least, explore other options — whether that be making a splash trade for a player like Cardinals QB Kyler Murray or, perhaps, identifying some potential value in the 2025 NFL Draft, though this isn’t necessarily the strongest QB class.
Whatever the move is, it certainly does feel like the clock to figure it out is ticking louder and louder with each offseason that the team misses an opportunity to make a deep playoff run.