The veteran quarterback is averaging 271 yards per game this season in Pittsburgh, a career high.
When the Pittsburgh Steelers made the midseason decision to switch starting quarterbacks, the move wasn’t exactly celebrated.
Pittsburgh went 4-2 in its first six games with Justin Fields at the helm, leading practically everyone to question why head coach Mike Tomlin would start offseason signee Russell Wilson for the team’s Oct. 20 game against the New York Jets.
“I’ve been trying to figure out what could motivate Tomlin to make this change,” ESPN’s Mina Kimes said a couple of days before the Jets game. “It’s one that I don’t quite understand.”
Kimes’ colleague Ryan Clark, a former Steelers safety, said right after: “I’m with her. I really don’t know what made the decision to go back to Russell Wilson.”
Former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marcus Spears questioned after Kimes and Clark: “I want to push it forward into thinking what happens if Russ has a bad first or second quarter? Do you go back to Justin Fields immediately?”
All three panelists were more than justified in their confusion.
Wilson missed the start of the season with a calf injury, and he was also coming off his two worst seasons as a professional, having posted an 11-19 record in the precious two years.
In fact, Wilson struggled so much in his two seasons with the Denver Broncos that the team incurred a historic cap penalty to get rid of him. Releasing Wilson cost the Broncos $85 million combined against their salary cap this season and next — the biggest cap penalty ever.
And the move didn’t cost Denver only dead money. The Broncos still had to pay Wilson $39 million this year after they cut him, minus whatever salary he made if he signed with another team. That allowed Pittsburgh to scoop him for a bargain one-year, $1.21 million contract, with Wilson getting $37.79 million more from the Broncos.
So why would the Steelers bench Fields — a former first-round draft pick seemingly realizing his potential — for a quarterback signed off the scrap heap whose last team paid him a fortune to go away?
Because of what Pittsburgh has done in its last six games.