"I don't believe you bring Russell Wilson back": Steelers Super Bowl champ pushes for Justin Fields to be re-signed 

After a stellar 10-3 start to the 2024 campaign, the Pittsburgh Steelers fizzled out and lost their final four regular-season games before getting blown out by the Baltimore Ravens in the Wildcard Round of the playoffs. They now head into the offseason with uncertainty about whether to run it back with the same roster in 2025 or blow it up and rebuild.

The decision about the quarterback position is the biggest the Steelers front office is tasked with making. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields are free agents this offseason, but the team is yet to commit to one of the two.

For franchise icon Ryan Clark, it's a no-brainer. On NFL Live, he advocated for Pittsburgh to hand Fields an extension and the starting spot in 2025 and let the veteran Wilson walk. He said:

"Think they should re-sign Justin Fields. And here is why. I think you figure out, 'Can he be the guy for the future?' And if he bombs, at least, you can go high in the draft and get you somebody good, somebody that could play.

"There's nobody on the market that you're going to be able to get that's going to come in there and outplay Justin Fields. ... Re-sign Justin Fields. ... If you hit the top of his potential, you have your guy."

Clark added that the Steelers need a long-term solution to their quarterback conundrum, making Fields a safer bet than Wilson, who turns 37 in November:

"If you can't do some of those things that you didn't, that you wanted to do, that you replaced him with Russell Wilson to do, then you're not good enough anyway, and you go get a quarterback in the draft, but I don't believe you bring Russell back to be good enough again."

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Steelers owner reveals team's offseason plan

The Steelers have the option to hand Justin Fields and Russell Wilson short-term deals and have a competition between the two to determine who gets the starting spot.

However, owner Art Rooney has ruled out the possibility of the team bringing back both quarterbacks. In a telephonic interview with 93.7 The Fan Radio, Rooney said:

"My preference would be to sign one of those quarterbacks (Russell Wilson or Justin Fields). Obviously, we will be looking in the draft as well either this year or next. That (quarterback position) has to be the priority."

He also claimed that Pittsburgh will consider drafting a signal-caller to fill its quarterback room. It's unclear who among Wilson and Fields will remain with the Steelers next season, but only one of the two will likely re-sign with the franchise.