A Continuous Journey: 2024 NFL Offseason Thread

Wide receivers don’t make 40 to 50 million a year and are far easier to replace.
I also think you are vastly underestimating what a return for Fields would be.

 

I think they are asking for a first-round pick, but might end up settling for a two. I don't like him for the Steelers at any price, but I'd be pissed if they gave up a No. 1 for Fields.

 

I'm not estimating at all. Just going by what others are saying (and not necessarily disagreeing), which has been speculating outside the first round. But if I had to guess, They're not going to get nearly what the Lions got for Stafford, nor what the Texans got for Watson. I don't even think they'd get what GB got for Rodgers. I think a second-rounder and maybe a couple lower-round picks, or some kind of pick swaps. I may be way off here. But if Fields were worth any kind of high or even mid-first-round pick, the Bears wouldn't trade him. Williams is not close to a sure thing. Harrison is a mortal lock.

WRs are starting to make in the mid-20s to $30mm. And Lamb may fetch $35 mil this offseason. It's not like the best ones are cheap. Harrison is as likely to be better than all of them as Williams is to be a top-10 QB. I'll stick by my guess that Fields-Harrison-Moore will be far better than Williams-Moore-?. As a Browns fan, I would not like Fields on the Steelers. In my mind, he's a significant upgrade over what they have (Oop disagrees, I know, and he may be right, but Fields would really have to suck to be worse than Pickett et all, and he's not close to that bad).

 

I’m not advocating they deal him, unless they believe in one of the QB’s, then it’s a no brainer.

I have no idea if any of these QB’s will be good, but if they believe they will, they need to make that move.

 

The question isn't if he is worse than Pickett. The question is if you would rather have Pickett with more cap room the next two seasons and at least a second-round pick or Fields. To make the deal, you have to believe Fields can become a franchise quarterback. I don't think he can. My understanding is that he tends to fail with the game on the line. I know he is erratic as a passer, with the occasional great game and a lot of stinkers. Yes, the running skills help make up for that, but how far does that take you? I guess the example people would bring up is Hurts, but he had a hell of a year as a passer when helped get the Eagles to the Super Bowl.

If Fields can't be a franchise quarterback, one who gives you the opportunity to compete for the Super Bowl, they are better off trying to re-sign Rudolph and let him compete with Pickett for the job. Either the light goes on for Pickett at that point and maybe you have something or Rudolph acts as a bridge until they find their franchise guy. In that scenario, they have the draft capital they would have given up for Fields to rebuild the lines or get another cornerback, all areas of significant need.

Of course, I've also seen two years of Pickett coming through with big drives at the end of the game and wondering if they can figure out how to unlock that guy the first three quarters.

 

I understand the concept of developing a quarterback and using the salary cap savings to improve the rest of the team. But it is hard for me to imagine that the Steelers do much better in 2024 than they did last year with that offense. I don't think the Steelers will improve the offense much if they run it back with the same quarterbacks.

Attempting to develop a quarterback on the cheap got Arthur Smith fired in Atlanta and I think would get Mike Tomlin fired in Pittsburgh. If I am Tomlin I would think it is Fields, who has physical tools the other quarterbacks lack, or bust. At least with Fields you can use his athleticism to develop a better running game.

 

That's my point. I don't think Fields is it. He is an upgrade over what they had last year, but I don't see him being good enough to make them a real contender. He is three seasons in and he hasn't shown much growth as a passer. Maybe the Bears fans here can correct me if I'm wrong, but he also has a habit of coming up small with the game on the line. Most importantly, he doesn't protect the ball. For all his flaws, those last two are areas where Pickett excels.

Also, Arthur Smith had a lot less security in Atlanta than Mike Tomlin does in Pittsburgh. I'm not suggesting the Steelers run it back with the same offense. I'm suggesting they fix the problems on the offensive line, especially center, and count on replacing Matt Canada with a competent offensive coordinator to help improve the passing game.

 

I've only really seen Fields a couple times. He should have beaten the Browns last year, in Cleveland, but his receivers (not Moore) dropped balls all over the place, including one perfectly placed would-be 74-yard TD that Tonyan bricked, and the should-have-been winning hail Mary at the end. So, yeah, Harrison ... I've seen Pickett 3-4 times more, and he's not good at all. Nor is he likely to be. When Mason Rudolph comes in and is a major upgrade ... it's kind of like Flacco coming in and being a major upgrade over Watson. Sigh. But I don't blame them if they ride with Pickett a little longer. Teams give up too early on some of these guys (See: Mayfield, Baker) and then regret it. Of course, they also give Daniel Jones $40 mil a year.

 

Fields is Marcus Mariotta 2.0. Flashes of brilliance wrapped in mediocrity.

 

Yeah, Jones was a disaster you could see coming.

The thing to keep in mind with Rudolph's big finish is the competition played a big part in that. His first start came against the Bengals, who were terrible defensively all season and they had just lost their best run-stuffer on the defensive line. They figured the Steelers would pound away with the run and attack them with the tight end, as they had done when the teams played a few weeks earlier. That meant single coverage on Pickens all day and he burned them.

The running game dominated their next game against the Seahawks. The only good team Rudolph faced in that stretch was the Ravens, but they were sitting a bunch of guys and playing vanilla defense because they were focused on resting for the playoffs. Once Rudolph ran into a competent defense in the playoffs, he did nothing but throw a devastating interception until after his team was down, 21-0.

I think there will be some competition for Pickett. I'm not sure Rudolph will be willing to return. They basically did everything they could to bury him when Roethlisberger retired, retaining Dwayne Haskins, signing Mitchell Trubisky and drafting Pickett in the first round. If Haskins hadn't died, I'm not even sure Rudolph would have made the team that year. Maybe they go with Tannehill, who at least knows Smith's offense and can serve as a competent backup/bridge.

 

That sounds about right to me. I just don't see enough to trade a high pick for Fields. Maybe if it was a third-rounder and a day three pick, but he seems like high risk without that high of a reward to me.

 

The clearer it becomes that the Beats are drafting Williams at one, the lower the trade price for Fields will be, not just for the Steelers (not sure he's a good fit there) but for any of the 8-10 teams that need QB upgrades, or in the case of the Pats and Falcons, any QB at all. So we may be debating this issue until late April.
PS: I think Darnold brought a second and fourth when he was traded. So Fields would likely be around that or something less. Not a prohibitive price at all.