Steelers Expected to Trade for Patriots $4.2 Million QB as Justin Fields Departs
The Pittsburgh Steelers now appear to be staring at the 2025 NFL season without a quarterback. The New England Patriots now have an extra quarterback. And according to
Andrew Vasquez of the USA Today Steelerswire, that spare Patriots quarterback could “give the Pittsburgh Steelers a chance to remain among the AFC’s elite right away.”
A trade with the Steelers sending what Vasquez expects would be a Day 2 draft pick to New England in exchange for Pittsburgh’s potential quarterback of the future now appears, if not inevitable then at least expected. According to Vasquez, the move would avoid “wasting the future on a free-agent QB or an even more unproven prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft.” And from the Patriots’ perspective, 25-year-old, six-foot-five, 246 pound quarterback Joe Milton III was their
sixth-round pick, 193rd overall, just last year.
From the Patriots point of view, converting Milton, who for the second year in a row appears destined to spend most of the season in the New England practice squad, into a second-round or third-round draft pick would have to be considered a tidy profit. The Steelers
own the 52nd overall pick in the 2025 draft, as well as the 83rd overall selection.
Why is a Milton-to-Steelers Trade Now Possible?
How did the two teams get to this point?
The Steelers divided quarterback duties in 2024 between Justin Fields — who was
drafted 11th overall by the Chicago Bears in 2021, and 13-year veteran Russell Wilson who won a Super Bowl while
with the Seattle Seahawks in the 2013 season. But despite some expectations that the Steelers were leaning toward retaining Fields, instead they allowed the 26-year-old out of Ohio State to escape.
Fields on Monday
signed a two-year, $40 million deal to replace future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers as the New York Jets’ primary signal-caller. As for Wilson, he is also a free agent and so far Pittsburgh has shown no real interest in bringing him back for his age-37 season.
While Wilson did not find any takers on Monday, the NFL’s first full day of the free agent signing period,
a reporter for the New York-based cable sports network
SNY wrote that the Tennessee Titans are “interested” in acquiring Wilson.
That would leave the Pittsburgh quarterback position — which has been in flux since another f
uture Hall of Famer, Ben Roethlisberger, retired in 2021 after holding it down for 18 years — wide open.
The Patriots’ quarterback position is set, with 2024 No. 3 overall draft pick Drake Maye, out of North Carolina, securing his spot in his 12 rookie season starts, earning an alternate Pro Bowl berth
and placing seventh in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting.
But in reality, Maye played only 11 games because in his 12th start, in Week 18, he was replaced by Milton who went on to lead the Patriots to a
23-16 win over the Buffalo Bills — and he did it in spectacular fashion putting his elite, if raw, athletic ability on full display.
Fired Coach Mayo Was Milton’s Backer in New England
But reportedly, according
to Daniel Rotman of Pro Football Focus, the surprising pick of Milton in last year’s draft was “largely driven by Jerod Mayo, who was his primary advocate within the organization.” Mayo was the Patriots’ head coach in 2024, before being fired after a single season and replaced with Mike Vrabel.
Asked
in late February whether he was open to trading Milton, Vrabel demurred, saying it was too early to discuss trades. But he made his feelings known on Monday, when the Patriots signed veteran QB
Josh Dobbs to a two-year, $8 million deal.
That makes Dobbs nearly four times as expensive as Milton, who will enter the second year of his four-year rookie contract, worth
a total of $4.2 million. The signing also appears to make Milton expendable, and according to
Fox Sports reporter Jordan Schultz the Patriots “have had discussions on trading (Milton) and would like to trade him to the right situation to continue his development in the NFL.”
Dobbs himself was drafted by the Steelers in 2018 with
their fourth-round pick, 135th overall, out of Tennessee. Milton was also a Tennessee Volunteer, and
won the 2023 Orange Bowl MVP, throwing for three touchdowns and 251 yards, in the Vols’ 31-14 win over Clemson.
