Trevor Lawrence to the Steelers? No thanks…
Well….I didn’t expect I’d be reacting to T-Law rumors this morning, but here we are.
Ryan Burr(?) posted on twitter/x this morning claiming that the Pittsburgh Steelers have reached out to the Jacksonville Jaguars to try and strike a deal that would bring QB Trevor Lawrence to the Steel City. Burr claims that the Steelers were offering a 1st and 2nd round pick in this year's draft, and he even went as far as to applaud Omar Khan for inquiring about T-Law even though the Jaguars weren’t interested in striking a deal.
I don’t know who the hell Ryan Burr is, but apparently he’s reputable enough to cause quite a stir on Steelers twitter(x). A quick look at his twitter/x bio tells me that he is a Syracuse alum who covers Big 10 basketball and the PGA Tour. There’s nothing about his feed or his bio that tells me that he has trusted NFL sources or that he is some up-and-coming insider. With that being said, it’s all everyone’s talking about this morning on social media, so I figured I’d give my two-cents.
I’ve been pretty vocal in my support of the Steelers bringing back Justin Fields on a short deal. In my opinion, the kid has too much upside to let him walk away from us knowing that we don’t have a real QB on our roster right now. At just 25 years old, I think he deserves a second go-round with the same OC (he’s never had the same playcaller two years in a row), and a chance to show what he can do in Arthur Smith’s system WITHOUT limitations. In the 6 games that Fields started for the Steelers in 2024, it was clear that the team wasn’t comfortable with him playing from under center or throwing the ball deep. While I think Fields has an underrated deep ball, he didn’t have very many chances to do either of those things very much due to very conservative game planning and playcalling. I think retaining Justin Fields is the most likely outcome for the Steelers at this juncture, so I’ll deliver my thoughts on T-Law with that in mind.
Trevor Lawrence is, without a doubt, a much better thrower of the football than Justin Fields. Since signing his $275M deal with the Jaguars, making him a top 4 highest-paid QB in the league, Lawrence’s numbers haven’t reflected the value associated with a $200M+ guy that was a number one overall pick back in 2021. That’s not all on him, of course. There’s a reason that there’s a GM opening in Jacksonville as I type this out. Maybe yinz have seen how critical I have been of Omar Khan because of the state of our WR room in 2024, but that pales in comparison to what Trevor Lawrence has had to deal with in Jacksonville.
I don’t think Trevor Lawrence’s story is written just yet, but it would be unusual, to say the least, for the Steelers to give up so much draft capital, and take on one of the most expensive contracts in NFL history for a guy that has yet to truly live up to his potential. I do think it would be a shot in the arm for the Steelers offense in the short term, but I just CAN’T let go of Justin Fields’ upside. If you re-sign Justin Fields NOW (before he is able to hit the open market), you’re going to get him for a fraction of what Trevor Lawrence costs, and you can keep your draft picks, and spend that extra money on bringing in some weapons for your offense. Justin Fields is an unproven commodity just like T-Law is, albeit to a more egregious degree, but it doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever to take a risk like that if you’re the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Thankfully, Mark Kaboly came out shortly after Ryan Burr’s tweet and completely shot the story down saying the Steelers have not reached out to the Jaguars, nor are they interested in doing so. There is a slight bit of upside to all this, though. If this report came out under the Kevin Colbert regime, we would’ve never even considered the validity of this rumor, and we would’ve shot it down immediately. It’s refreshing that, under Omar Khan, we’re becoming known as a team that’s active in the trade market and free agency. Shoutout to Trevor Lawrence. Nothing but love and hope for him…but I’m glad this rumor is seemingly false.
Hey Omar…SIGN JUSTIN FIELDS BEFORE HE HITS THE FUCKIN MARKET PLEASE?????
Follow me on twitter/x: @jay_newm
