PALM BEACH, Fla. — The first two times a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers top leadership spoke to the media this offseason, the focus at the quarterback position was re-signing one of incumbents Justin Fields and Russell Wilson.
Steelers president Art Rooney said in January that he wanted to have one of Fields or Wilson under contract for 2025.
“I think they’re both capable quarterbacks and my preference would be to sign one of them,” Rooney said. “So that’ll be the priority, and I think that will give us the best opportunity to move forward.”
In February, general Omar Khan said that not only did the Steelers want to sign one of Fields and Wilson, he gave a timeframe for such a deal to be made: before the start of free agency on March 10.
“We’ve had conversations with both Russ’ people and Justin’s representatives,” Khan said at the 2025 NFL Combine. “Ideally, you’d like to sign one of the guys we had last year, but the reality is they’re both free agents. … In an ideal scenario, you’d like to have this done before the start of the league year. That impacts who you sign. That impacts the type of receiver you may go after or how you build the rest of the team, so all of that has an effect.”
On Sunday, head coach Mike Tomlin made the third appearance of a member of the Steelers’ top decision-making troika at the NFL owner’s meetings.
The Steelers did not sign Fields. They tried to before the start of free agency, but he was determined to test the market. They tried to after the starter of free agency, but he ended up taking a more-lucrative contract with the New York Jets.
