Free agency hasn’t even started and the Pittsburgh Steelers outlook for the upcoming season is looking grim. It is tough to look at 2025 with much promise when the consensus best option for the Steelers at quarterback is Justin Fields. This situation has fans wondering if it wouldn’t be better if the Steelers should just tank the season and start the rebuild now.
Last season was supposed to be the final piece of the puzzle for Pittsburgh. The Steelers signed Russell Wilson and then traded for Fields, and this was supposed to solidify the quarterback depth chart and set this team up for the future. Whichever quarterback played better in 2024 would be handsomely rewarded going forward.
Unfortunately, neither quarterback has stepped up, and now both are heading into free agency. The top free-agent target outside of Fields and/or Wilson is Sam Darnold and he’s going to cost a fortune and isn’t going to turn this team around.
Same with the 2025 NFL draft. If there was a Jayden Daniels in this draft, we would be pounding the table for the Steelers to sell the farm to go up and get him. But there isn’t. Not Cam ward. Not Shedeur Sanders.
So what do the Steelers do? The best bet might be to get Fields under contract just so there isn’t a huge financial investment and hope they can catch lightning in a bottle with a rookie like Jaxson Dart or Jalen Milroe. If this doesn’t work, the Steelers won’t need to tank because they will have a hard time competing with the top teams in the AFC.