The Pittsburgh Steelers had one of the most discussed quarterback controversies of the 2024 NFL season. They signed Russell Wilson at the very beginning of free agency, and traded for Justin Fields shortly after. Wilson suffered a calf injury at the beginning of training camp, which led to Fields being the team’s starter for the first month and a half of the season. Mike Tomlin then made the controversial decision to make the switch to Wilson once he was healthy, despite solid play from Fields and a 4-2 start.

Appearing on The Bill Simmons Show, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated noted that many in the Steelers’ building wanted to stick with Justin Fields as the starter and wanted to go back to Fields once things went south.

“I think people would tell you that the Russell Wilson thing undermined so many things in the last month of the season,” Breer said. “And that a lot of that building really wanted them to go back to Justin Fields. Tomlin was kind of all on his own on that one.”

Mike Tomlin himself said he went “lone ranger” with the decision to start Wilson. The decision looked like a great one at first, as the Steelers’ passing game came alive over the next month. However, Wilson’s play rapidly declined over the final month of the season, but a switch back to Fields was never made. After a 10-3 start, the Steelers lost their final five games, including their wild card loss to the Baltimore Ravens.