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Headline – “Jets Signing of Justin Fields Named Fifth-Best Move of the Offseason by Bleacher Report.”
This headline was based on a story by Bleacher Report writer Gary Davenport, who wrote:
“Why the Pittsburgh Steelers stubbornly refused to turn back to Fields last year even when the team faltered late is a mystery right up there with Stonehenge and those Easter Island heads. Fields has his flaws, but he’s also still just 26 years old and one of the NFL’s most dangerous dual-threat quarterbacks. Getting even an average NFL starter for $20 million a season is a felony in 11 states.”
Before I continue, I’m going to offer the caveat I seemingly offer every time I write about the Jets signing Fields – it could turn out great, we shall see.
But as we sit here right now, none of us knows how it’s going to turn out, so I’m just trying to offer some critical analysis based on what we have seen from the player so far.
This isn’t being a hater, just dealing with the facts we have been presented up to this point.
Okay, here goes:
Davenport, whom I am not familiar with (that doesn’t mean he’s bad, I’m just saying I’m not familiar with his work), is pushing the premise that getting Fields for $20 million a season is some kind of steal.
Some have argued they overpaid a tad, like long-time Steelers writer Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“The guy won 10 games in three years in Chicago and played six games last year,” Dulac said on NFL Network. “That is not a quality body of work to get a $40 million dollar two-year deal, but that is what we see in free agency. That is what we see from teams like the Jets and the Cleveland Browns.”
Some might argue with Davenport’s premise that Fields has been an “average starter.” His record as an NFL starter is 14-30. Is that average or below average?
As Bill Parcells liked to say, “You are what your record says it is.”
Looking up Davenport’s bio, he is a Senior Staff Writer at Fantasy Sharks, an NFL and Fantasy Football Analyst at Bleacher Report and a contributing author and Associate Editor at Football Diehards.
So he is a fantasy-driven writer.
This is important to point out.
While I don’t know a ton about fantasy football, from what I’ve been told, running quarterbacks are good for fantasy points. You get 1 point for every 10 rushing yards.
So people who view football through the prism of fantasy football are generally going to think highly of Fields.
Not sure it was as big a mystery as Davenport surmises as to why Mike Tomlin went with Russell Wilson over Fields late last season. He had more experience and was considered the better passer.
And it’s clear Tomlin had no interest in paying Fields $20 million per year, so they let him walk, and focused their attention on Aaron Rodgers.
Once again, it’s okay for the Jets to take a flyer on Fields and see if they can take a Washington Commanders/Philadelphia Eagles play-calling approach at the QB position with a dual-threat signal-caller. Both teams had success last year with a lot of read-option, play-action passes. The Jets must take a similar approach with Fields, and they know it.
But before Fields proves himself with the Jets, based on his resume up to this point, nobody should be going crazy praising the signing.
I’m taking a 100 percent wait-and-see approach.
Could work out great. Time will tell.
June 26, 2025
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