PHOTO BY DAVE DICELLO

Russell Wilson and Justin Fields have both said they’re operating under the assumption that the race to become the Steelers’ next quarterback is indeed a competition.

It isn’t.

At least, it shouldn’t be.

The Steelers, who engaged in their first steps as a collective this week with the opening of OTAs, ought to be playing the long game.

That’s the one that can finally land them Ben Roethlisberger’s successor, and, eventually, the successor to the successor.

Start with Wilson, a 35-year-old, 13-year pro and a Super Bowl-winning QB in Seattle. He arrived in Pittsburgh as damaged goods based on a two-year tenure in Denver that was an absolute disaster, at least from Denver’s perspective.

The Steelers don’t need Wilson to be an All-Pro.

They need him to activate the offense, to make the right decisions while spreading the ball around and to stick it in the end zone once in a while. They need Wilson to do, from the outset this season, what Mason Rudolph did over the final three games last season.

It’s a calculated risk but one well worth taking.

If it pans out, the Steelers can win games, make the playoffs and maybe even snap a postseason drought that has reached seven seasons.

If that happens, Wilson will have re-established himself. He’ll be a hot commodity again in a quarterback-starved NFL and he can depart for unrestricted free agency with the Steelers’ eternal gratitude.

Better to give Wilson that than a multi-year, big-money contract when he’s 36.

Rather than do that a year from now, the Steelers can instead hand the offense over to Fields, who, like Wilson, has arrived as damaged goods but is in possession of a much more tantalizing upside.

Fields is 25 and a physical specimen at 6-foot-3 and 228 pounds (Wilson is 5-foot-11, 215 pounds). He was intriguing enough coming out of Ohio State to be selected 11th overall by the Bears in 2021 but so ineffective he was run out of Chicago after 38 career starts, 28 of which the Bears lost.

Fields should be better than his tape betrays given his physical skill set. He has the required arm talent and the prerequisite mobility for today’s game (the 1,143 yards Fields rushed for in 2022 are more than Steelers running back Najee Harris has amassed in two of his three 1,000-yard campaigns).

While Wilson is resurrecting his game, the Steelers can fix Fields, at least in theory.

They can win now with Wilson. And they can ensure that Fields, thanks to a year of exposure and coaching and the tweaking of mechanics or study habits, is ready to take the ball and run with it down the road; once Wilson departs they’ll have their quarterback of the future to replace him.

There are, of course, no guarantees.

There were arguments to be made for Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett until the Steelers were painfully reminded that playing the part is infinitely more important than looking the part.

For now, the Steelers are once again in the look-the-part phase.

Wilson and Fields both have that much going for them.

“They’re professionals,” maintains Mike Tomlin, who has only gone as far as to acknowledge Wilson is in the “pole position.”

“There’s an expectation there. Both guys have been franchise-like guys, if you will. They’ve gotten out of their cars in the morning and worn the responsibility of being that guy for a franchise.

“There’s residual benefit from that and so I’m excited about us receiving it.”

That’s the plan, at any rate.

At least, it ought to be.