Mike Tomlin’s handling of Russell Wilson, Justin Fields could have ulterior motive

Simply by the way the Pittsburgh Steelers handled moving on from Kenny Pickett and resetting their quarterback room this offseason, they were set up for potential controversy. However, with the way events transpired in the preseason and through the first six weeks of the regular season, it seemed like Mike Tomlin might actually avoid that for his offense.

With Russell Wilson suffering a calf injury in training camp, Justin Fields took over the first-team reps and then was named the Week 1 starter as the ailment was re-aggravated and kept Wilson on the sidelines. Fields, meanwhile, took over and, while he was far from perfect, he helped guide the Steelers to a 4-2 start leading into their Week 7 showdown with the Jets.

All signs pointed to Fields holding onto the job, specifically his ability to scramble and create space behind an underperforming offensive line. And yet, as Wilson finally has a clean bill of health, Tomlin and the Steelers appear ready to name the veteran former Seahawk and Bronco as QB1 in Pittsburgh, though Fields will still see the field as well.

NFL insider Dianna Russini reported for The Athletic ($) that several executives around the league questioned the quarterback switch, which is not uncommon from the general sentiment among fans as well. However, she also later mentioned another belief among some executives, one that's a bit more nefarious for Tomlin and the Steelers.

NFL Rumors: Mike Tomlin moving Russell Wilson to QB1 could be about draft pick

Based on what we've seen from Fields this season and Wilson with the Broncos previously, it would be hard to find many surefire football reasons for Tomlin to move full-steam ahead with a quarterback change. What could be at play, however, is the conditional draft pick the Steelers are sending the Bears as part of the Fields trade.

The trade was for a conditional sixth-round pick. If Fields plays 51% of the Steelers snaps at quarterback this season, however, they will instead send a fourth-round pick to Chicago as opposed to a sixth-rounder. And while Russini says that she doesn't believe that Tomlin is motivated by that in making this decision, she did note that other executives don't exactly feel the same or, at minimum, are curious about that factor in all of this.

We're not going to throw around accusations but, given what we've seen from Fields as a construct of Arthur Smith's offense, it's hard not to speculate alongside these execs that this could be a factor. It's frankly hard to come up with other sensible reasons to move away from the former first-round pick.

Maybe Wilson will take the field and look like a new man after another change of scenery, making all of these talking points and second-guessing look silly. That's difficult to believe wholeheartedly at this point, though, so the possibility of an ulterior motive as it pertains to the Steelers' draft capital has to remain looming over this situation — and while it might not be the best look for Tomlin, there is also some sense behind said motive.