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Russell Wilson will be making his third NFL stop, this time with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Super Bowl-winning quarterback agreed to terms with the franchise on a one-year deal, according to a league source.
Wilson, 35, is coming off a rocky two-year stint with the Denver Broncos which started with a blockbuster trade from the Seattle Seahawks and ended with his release in early March. He was benched during the final two games of the 2023 season, which Denver finished with an 8-9 record, opening the door for his release.
Last season, Wilson threw for 3,070 yards with 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions resulting in a 98.0 passer rating for 15 games within Sean Payton’s offense. The quarterback struggled to a career-worst 84.4 passer rating along with 3,524 yards, 16 TDs and 11 interceptions in 2022 as coach Nathaniel Hackett didn’t even finish out one season with Wilson. Denver fired Hackett before the end of the year.
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The Broncos acquired the nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback in a massive trade with the Seattle Seahawks in March 2022 in which the Broncos gave up five draft picks, including two first-rounders, and three players in exchange for Wilson and a fourth-round pick. Denver won only 11 of the 30 games Wilson started.
Wilson left the Seahawks with one of the better résumés in the NFL with one Super Bowl win in two trips to the game as well as nine Pro Bowl nods. He threw for 37,059 yards with 292 TDs and 87 interceptions resulting in a 101.8 passer rating in his 10 seasons with the Seahawks.
Where Wilson stacks up
What should the Steelers expect from Wilson? It might not be the most favorable results given how the last three seasons have panned out.
Here’s how Wilson stacked up in Expected Points Added per dropback (via TruMedia), passer rating and total QB EPA among qualified passers last season:
| player | EPA/DB | Psr Rt | Total EPA |
|---|---|---|---|
|
0.26 (1) |
113.0 (1) |
132.8 (1) |
|
|
0.18 (2) |
105.9 (2) |
117.1 (2) |
|
|
0.15 (3) |
101.1 (5) |
60.7 (5) |
|
|
0.13 (4) |
92.2 (16) |
103.9 (3) |
|
|
0.12 (5) |
96.1 (11) |
75.5 (4) |
|
|
0.11 (6) |
100.8 (6) |
59.9 (7) |
|
|
0.11 (7) |
97.9 (9) |
59.9 (6) |
|
|
0.11 (8) |
92.5 (15) |
59.3 (8) |
|
|
0.09 (9) |
98.4 (7) |
25.6 (14) |
|
|
0.07 (10) |
92.6 (14) |
35.2 (11) |
|
|
0.07 (11) |
93.2 (13) |
29.4 (13) |
|
|
0.07 (12) |
89.1 (20) |
52.4 (9) |
|
|
0.07 (13) |
102.7 (4) |
35.6 (10) |
|
|
0.06 (14) |
94.6 (12) |
29.9 (12) |
|
|
0.06 (15) |
103.8 (3) |
20.3 (16) |
|
|
0.06 (16) |
92.1 (17) |
22.7 (15) |
|
|
0.04 (17) |
97.7 (10) |
14.6 (17) |
|
|
-0.01 (18) |
84.6 (23) |
-8.2 (19) |
|
|
-0.01 (19) |
89.4 (19) |
-5.8 (18) |
|
|
-0.03 (20) |
91.0 (18) |
-13.5 (20) |
|
|
-0.03 (21) |
84.2 (24) |
-21.9 (24) |
|
|
-0.03 (22) |
88.5 (21) |
-31.1 (25) |
|
|
-0.04 (23) |
83.9 (25) |
-16.8 (22) |
|
|
-0.05 (24) |
86.3 (22) |
-21.5 (23) |
|
|
-0.05 (25) |
98.0 (8) |
-16.7 (21) |
|
|
-0.07 (26) |
83.4 (26) |
-43.7 (26) |
|
|
-0.08 (27) |
79.5 (28) |
-50.7 (27) |
|
|
-0.12 (28) |
78.9 (29) |
-87.1 (30) |
|
|
-0.15 (29) |
81.4 (27) |
-54.1 (28) |
|
|
-0.18 (30) |
77.0 (31) |
-75.8 (29) |
|
|
-0.21 (31) |
73.7 (32) |
-133.5 (32) |
|
|
-0.23 (32) |
77.2 (30) |
-117.1 (31) |
There’s a noticeable difference within the rankings for Wilson in passer rating and EPA. That’s because Wilson still managed to fill the stat sheet in non-pivotal moments for the Broncos last season. The trend dates back to his time with the Seahawks. He yielded his worst single-game EPA rate of his career last season in Denver’s Week 6 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
So can Wilson pull himself back together? That’s the gamble the Steelers are taking by signing him. — Larry Holder, NFL senior writer
Required reading
(Photo: Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)
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