The Pittsburgh Steelers acquired Justin Fields in a trade with the Chicago Bears earlier this month, which has many wondering if the Steelers view him as their quarterback of the future.
Of course, Fields is currently behind Russell Wilson on the depth chart, as Pittsburgh signed Wilson in free agency before it swung a deal for Fields.
However, with Wilson being 35 years old and with the Steelers on a one-year deal, the door seems to be open for Fields to grab hold of the starting job by 2025 (depending on how Wilson plays).
Former NFL signal-caller and current ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III thinks this is a great opportunity for Fields and does, in fact, think that Pittsburgh may potentially view him as its franchise quarterback moving forward.
Griffin notes how much head coach Mike Tomlin has praised Fields and adds that Fields has a better set of weapons at his disposal than he ever had with the Bears.
Fields, who played his collegiate football at Ohio State, was selected by Chicago with the 11th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft.
While the 25-year-old showed flashes of brilliance at times with the Bears, he was never able to perform at a high level consistently. As a result, Fields went just 10-28 as a starter.
This past season, Fields appeared to be breaking out of it, particularly between Weeks 4 and 5 when he threw eight touchdown passes and just one interception.
However, the following week, Fields dislocated his thumb, causing him to miss four games.
Upon returning from the injury, Fields’ inconsistency returned with him, and for the rest of the season, we saw a whole lot of up-and-down play from the Kennesaw, Ga. native.
On the 2023 campaign as a whole, Fields threw for 2,562 yards, 16 touchdowns and nine picks while completing 61.4 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 86.3. He also rushed for 657 yards and four scores.
We’ll see if Justin Fields can eventually carve out a role as the Steelers’ top gun under center in the future.
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