The Pittsburgh Steelers will likely be in the quarterback market this offseason, as Russell Wilson and Justin Fields are set to hit unrestricted free agency, and neither was particularly impressive in 2024.
Wilson started most of the season for Pittsburgh, and though he got off to a nice start, the veteran unraveled at the end of the year and was abysmal during the Steelers’ four-game losing streak to finish the regular season and playoff defeat to the Baltimore Ravens.
Fields started the first six games of the campaign while Wilson dealt with a calf injury, and the former Ohio State Buckeye showed some promise, totaling ten touchdowns to just two turnovers with a 4-2 record. He lost the starting job after Wilson returned from injury in Week 7.
If the Steelers enter the free agency quarterback market this offseason, Steelers Now’s Alan Saunders lists Minnesota Vikings signal-caller Daniel Jones as a potential option for Pittsburgh.
“Jones will only be 28, and was a decent NFL quarterback on occasion in a bad situation on New York,” Saunders wrote. “The Giants never had much of an offensive line and seemingly never had receivers for him to target, so he’ll be pretty used to the situation he’ll be entering in Pittsburgh.”
“He probably needs a real quarterback guru to resuscitate his career, and he seems to know that, which is why he signed in Minnesota,” Saunders added.
Jones was waived by the New York Giants in the middle of the 2024 season after ten uninspiring starts and finished the season with the Vikings. Though the 27-year-old has had success in the NFL, primarily in 2022 when he won a playoff game with New York and tossed just five interceptions in 16 starts, Jones isn’t an adequate starting-level quarterback and would be a downgrade over Wilson and Fields.
Signing Jones won’t cost the Steelers much, and he would provide solid depth, but Omar Khan shouldn’t sign the former top-five pick with the idea of starting him. Jones hasn’t been a competent starter at the sport’s most vital position for most of his career.
If Pittsburgh wants to compete in a competitive AFC in 2025, they shouldn’t sign Jones to be the starting quarterback. He would be a fine depth acquisition on a cheap contract, but that’s his ceiling.
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