While the future of the quarterback position in Pittsburgh is still up in the air, Russell Wilson knows where he wants to be for the foreseeable future.
While making an appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday, Wilson discussed his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers this season. The quarterback signed a one-year deal with the Steelers in March following his release from the Denver Broncos after two seasons. While speaking about his recent years as a veteran journeyman quarterback, Wilson described Pittsburgh as “a special place” while praising coach Mike Tomlin and veteran leaders like Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt.
Wilson, 36, also touched on his age. He joined his third team in four years upon signing with the Steelers — he’s gone 17-24 as a starting quarterback since leaving Seattle. Wilson became the Steelers’ starter midway through the 2024 season, sitting out the first six weeks with a calf injury sustained in preseason. Despite a hot start, going 6-1 in his first seven games, Pittsburgh limped into the postseason, dropping their final four games and losing on the road to the Baltimore Ravens in the wild-card round. Despite the late-season struggles, Wilson remained optimistic about his ability to play into the future.
“Obviously, this year was an exciting year in a lot of ways,” Wilson said on the show. “It was tough at the end, obviously. We didn’t get it done, but I’ve got so much more in me, man. I’m excited. My goal is to be with the Pittsburgh Steelers for a long time, hopefully finish my career there, God willing. I’m just trusting God and the process.”
Wilson later mentioned that he and the team had begun the early stages of a contract negotiation.
“Yes, we have been starting to talk a little bit,” Wilson said. “Obviously, we’ve had our meetings and everything else. We’re kinda just getting into it. I think that it’s an exciting time, obviously, to be a Pittsburgh Steeler and the opportunity of what we can do. I think at the same time, Omar (Khan) and coach Tomlin, I really love those guys, and who they are, and the team that we can put together.”
Wilson, who finished the season throwing for 2,482 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions on a completion percentage of 63.7 percent, played the 2024 season on a cap hit of $1.21 million. With Wilson, Justin Fields and Kyle Allen all hitting free agency, Skylar Thompson is the only current quarterback on the books for the Steelers in 2025.
Pittsburgh went into the 2024 season with a complete overhaul at the quarterback position, moving on from 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett, as well as Mason Rudolph and Mitchell Trubisky. Pittsburgh’s solution was to take fliers on two veteran quarterbacks in Wilson and Fields. The result was Pittsburgh’s fourth playoff berth — and fourth wild-card exit — in the last five years.
Wilson’s future in Pittsburgh may not be up to him
While Wilson has said publicly on several occasions that he wants to remain in Pittsburgh long-term, he might not be the one who makes that decision. There are two sides to this conversation. Even though Wilson wants to play about half a dozen more years, the Steelers themselves need to decide if they believe Wilson is their answer in 2025 — and possibly beyond.
“We are certainly open to considering (Wilson and Fields), but there’s a lot of work ahead of us,” Tomlin said at his season-ending news conference a week ago. “The major work, obviously, starts first and foremost with just understanding what our options are, what the field looks like in terms of free agency, what the draft pool looks like.”
It helps Wilson’s cause that the veteran market is full of risk, with Aaron Rodgers, Sam Darnold and Kirk Cousins among the primary candidates. This year’s draft class also isn’t considered especially strong and the Steelers likely aren’t in range to land one of the top QBs with the 21st overall pick.
If the Steelers are interested in bringing back Wilson, they have to decide which part of his season tells the real story. During his first seven starts, Wilson led the Steelers to a 6-1 record. His trademark moonball unlocked George Pickens, Wilson’s experience helped the offense seamlessly make checks at the line of scrimmage and his veteran leadership was valuable on a young (and sometimes immature) offense. However, the Steelers’ offense unraveled over the last month, scoring just 14.2 points per game during a five-game span, which included a four-game losing streak to end the regular season and a wild-card round loss to the Ravens.
That lull in performance coincided with Pickens’ injury absence and an emphasis from opponents on eliminating the deep ball. Through Wilson’s first seven starts, he completed 17 of 33 (51.5 percent) pass attempts that traveled 20-plus yards downfield, with four touchdowns. During the four-game losing streak to end the regular season, he completed just 4 of 12 (33.3 percent) such passes with no touchdowns. Meanwhile, sacks and turnovers grew more problematic. Wilson was dropped 3 1/2 times per game from Week 15 to 18 and finished with 33 in the regular season, the fourth most in the NFL during his stretch as the starter.
If the Steelers bring back Wilson, they have to decide if they’re willing to live with a boom-or-bust offense that’s reliant on the deep ball. They also have to decide if they want to see if Fields can be the answer. He led the Steelers to a 4-2 record before Tomlin pivoted to Wilson. — Mike DeFabo, Steelers beat writer
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(Photo: Justin K. Aller / Getty Images)
