Steelers QB Justin Fields is pushing to make Russell Wilson obsolete

Justin Fields has made the Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback situation into what coach Mike Tomlin is calling "an incomplete study." Tomlin was speaking, specifically, about evaluating Russell Wilson, Fields' direct competition. But it's fair to categorize the quarterback competition as such.

For the past few weeks, Fields received help from Wilson, who has missed time with a calf injury. Wilson's absence from practice has opened the door for Fields. But even with Wilson healthy, he has done nothing to settle the QB1 question.

And I'd bet the Steelers thought they'd have their quarterback situation figured out by now. Wilson signed with Pittsburgh on a comically below-market contract: one year and $1.2 million. The quarterback could afford to take the deal because the Broncos are paying him $37.79 million as part of his five-year, $242 million deal with Denver. But that contract brought expectations. Wilson failed to meet them. And the deal now looks like one of the worst contracts in history.

So, yeah, you can see why Wilson made expectations as low as possible when joining the Steelers. And Pittsburgh gladly took him at that rate.

The idea was pretty straightforward. With Wilson coming in at such a low cost — just a hair more expensive than what Brock Purdy, a seventh-round pick still on his rookie deal, is getting paid in San Francisco — the Steelers could afford to bring in a developmental quarterback (Fields) and maybe even another top-flight receiver. The second part of the plan hasn't quite worked out (yet?) with the Steelers hoping and waiting for the 49ers to trade Brandon Aiyuk to Pittsburgh.

But technically, the first part hasn't exactly worked either. Fields was supposed to be a project that would likely take