Former Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields has found a new home in the NFL.
According to multiple reports, Fields is headed to the New York Jets on a two-year deal worth $40 million ($30 million guaranteed). The signing reunites him with former Ohio State teammate and current Jets wideout Garrett Wilson, who totaled 73 receptions for 1,155 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns when the two played together with the Buckeyes from 2019-20, as well as tight end Jeremy Ruckert, who caught another 293 yards and nine touchdowns in those same seasons.
The Jets will be the third team Fields has played for in the NFL since being selected with the 11th pick of the 2021 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears. He spent his first three seasons with Chicago as the franchise’s starting quarterback — starting 38 of the 40 games he appeared in and totaling 6,674 passing yards and 2,220 rushing yards — before being traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers last offseason in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick.
Fields opened the 2024 season as the Steelers’ starting quarterback and led them to a 4-2 record in their first six games, but he was benched in favor of veteran Russell Wilson in October and appeared in just four more games with zero starts. The Steelers went 6-5 with Wilson as the starter and lost in the first round of the NFL playoffs to the Baltimore Ravens.
Fields, who totaled 6,240 yards (5,373 passing, 867 rushing) and 78 touchdowns in his two seasons as Ohio State’s starting quarterback, now has his third chance to compete and win the starting job in the NFL, this time with a New York Jets franchise that hasn’t won more than seven games since 2015 and has missed the playoffs for 14 straight seasons, the longest active playoff drought in professional North American sports.
The Jets recently moved on from future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, meaning that Fields will join a quarterback room that currently consists of veteran Tyrod Taylor and second-year Jordan Travis.
