On Monday, the Jets signed Justin Fields to a two-year, $40 million deal with a clear path to a starting role and all that comes with it. Among a cast of castaway veterans, Fields offered New York a unique combination of youth, upside, and competence. It’s unknown, perhaps unlikely, that it truly works out, but few are complaining with the signing.
For New York, Fields is a low-risk, moderate-to-high reward roll of the dice that should help the ground game even more than the passing offense.
For Fields, this opportunity is simply sink or swim.
Stephen A. Smith revealed the ultimatum of Fields’ contract with the Jets.
“I think his career is on the line,” Smith said. “I know he’s relatively young, but he was in Chicago, and then he moved on to Pittsburgh, and when he was in Pittsburgh, obviously there was some trepidation over who would be the starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
Fields’ 2024 campaign was both promising and sobering. The Steelers went 4-2 in his starts before he was abruptly benched for Russell Wilson. By most efficiency metrics, it was the best year of his career. Freed from Chicago’s sticky incompetence, Fields exceeded expectations and looked like a fringe-average starting quarterback.
However, it would be a stretch to say Fields was anything more than that, or that his game is bound to take another step in the right direction. Being a franchise quarterback is still far in his right tail of outcomes, and by no means should he be expected to be the passer New York has been waiting a half-century for.
It is more likely that Fields crashes and burns than earns a second contract as a starter in East Rutherford. But the Jets don’t need him to be the savior. They need him to be fine and let everything else fall into place.