MARCH 8: It is looking like Wilson’s Steelers visit will take place soon. The decorated quarterback was spotted Friday morning catching a flight to Pittsburgh from a Newark airport, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. Thus far, the Steelers have been the only team connected to meeting with the soon-to-be released QB. The meeting will, in fact, occur within the next 24 hours, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini. Wilson will meet with Mike Tomlin and other Steelers brass soon.
MARCH 7: As expected, Russell Wilson will not be in Denver for the 2024 season. His next destination is unknown, but an early potential suitor has emerged.
The Steelers are interested in the former Super Bowl winner, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. He adds that a visit which would take place before the start of free agency next week is being tentatively planned. Wilson will not be released until the new league year officially opens (on March 13), but he has been granted permission to find a new home in the meantime.
Wilson’s market will be an interesting one given his financial situation. $39MM in 2024 compensation is already guaranteed from the Broncos – less the presumed league minimum salary paid by his new team – so he can be added at a fraction of the cost of other available quarterbacks. The 35-year-old showed signs of improvement during his one-and-done campaign under Sean Payton, but he still fell well short of expectations given his five-year, $245MM extension signed upon arrival in Denver.
The Steelers have been floated as a potential Wilson landing spot given their uncertainty under center. 2022 first-rounder Kenny Pickett is atop the depth chart for the time being, but it is well known the team will add competition in the offseason. Mason Rudolph – who occupied the starting role even after Picket was healthy toward the end of the 2023 campaign – is in discussion on another Pittsburgh re-up, but the release of Mitch Trubisky opened up room for an additional experienced option.
Wilson could fill that vacancy and in doing so provide stability at the QB spot relative to Pickett’s injury-marred and inconsistent tenure. However, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes the Steelers are expected to provide the Pitt alum with another opportunity as a starter under new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. The ex-Falcons head coach enjoyed success at the coordinator level overseeing a ground-heavy approach with the Titans, and a similar setup could be used in Pittsburgh in 2024.
Dulac notes Wilson is interested in the Steelers, but he adds the longtime Seahawks starter is also in conversation with “at least one other team” at this point. An agreement could be in place at any time before or after free agency, but Pittsburgh and any other suitors will no doubt weigh other options on the QB market before circling back to Wilson. In any event, he could have at least a few opportunities to choose from once his Broncos release is finalized and he can officially join a third career franchise.
Any one but Pickett..
Going to need to build him an office.
Build him 2. I don’t care lol. Pickett sucks
Rooney is too cheap for that — BYO camping tent.
Rooney = Nutting. Just more wins so most don’t complain.
Ha. Closer than people would think/care to admit maybe, but no not even close.
Salary cap & floor obviously helps, but Steelers always spend to the cap. He just pinches pennies literally everywhere else.
Rooney’s care about the team and winning. They just want to do it with the lowest cost per win possible it would seem.
Not a fan of the player (washed) or person (diva) at this point but…
The price would be right.
And he’d be an upgrade over Bad Pickett but you can make him hold a clipboard if Good Pickett shows up.
So…it’s something, I guess.
Just wondering Russ had 26:8 TD:INT with over 3K yards 66% completion and a 98 rating. What part of that is washed? If any of that is washed, boy what should we call Pickett? Never has been? Never will be? It’ll take him 2 more years to get 26 career TDs at his rate.
The Steelers had 25 passing TDs in the last 2 years, Russ had t26 last year. That ‘washed’ notion is ridiculously incorrect.
So, why did Denver just cut him even though they still have to pay him $40 million rather than just keep him?
Because Sean Payton is a dumb guy. Payton wasn’t the one who lobbied for Wilson, nor was he the one to sign Wilson. Payton’s ego couldn’t reason with a guy like Russ.
On the other hand Mike Tomlin has done nothing but deal with egos his whole entire career. Russ is a cake walk compared to AB, Bell, and Ben. Let alone all at once…
Sean Payton is not dumb. He watched Russ play and can see that he’s not good anymore. Russ plays overly conservative training wheel football now. He refuses to take the shots down the field that he needs to and I’m not talking about the moon ball deep balls he throws up. He won’t take the 15-30 yard throws that good QBs take because he doesn’t want to jeopardize his TD-INT ratio. He also doesn’t throw the ball on time with any sort of regularity. His scrambling around the pocket now is because the receivers already came out of their breaks and have to scramble with him to try to make it work.
Bottom line one of the smarter NFL coaches in the last 30 years is paying him 86 million dollars the next two years to not play QB for his team. That speaks volumes.
Define one of the smartest coaches because Payton hasn’t won a SINGLE thing outside of a year he oversaw bounties placed on players heads. Including a 38 year old Brett Favre he couldn’t beat otherwise….A coach who rode a HOF QB’s coattails for 15 years? Absolutely. One of the smartest? Lol no.
Not to mention – we’re talking about the Steelers who roster 1 QB and that 1 QB refuses to take deep shots, doesn’t take 15-30 yard throws, avoids the middle of the field, AND can barely score 16 points a game. He’s 1-7 when opponents score 20 points, and that 1 win he scored 6 points (missed 2pt) while the defense, per usual, bailed him out with 2 TDs…
Bottom line Pickett sucks and Dwayne Haskins would be a better option currently. Don’t act like Russ isn’t an immediate upgrade.
Is your argument that Payton is a terrible coach or that Russ can play at a high level? The basis of my comment is around the fact that Russ is washed and can’t play at a high level anymore. You seem to have a real problem with Payton and not a lot to say about how Russ actually played.
Payton is perhaps the most overrated head coach in the NFL. And you’re right in your initial assessment: he’s not dumb. He knows the Broncos were shackled by Wilson’s ridiculous contract but instead of going after upper management, tried to bully Wilson into a restructure. When he declined, Payton benched him
Let’s tell it like it is
I’m laughing at the “washed” comment. 26 touchdown passes against 8 interceptions. An admirable winning streak after a loss in which the Broncos gave up 70 points
If that’s your definition of “washed” just what would you call Pickett?
Obviously washed is a relative term. It’s based on the idea that leaving Seattle headed to Denver a lot of people (not saying everyone) had him as a top 5-8 QB and thought Pete carol was holding him back. To go from that to now a level at which only 2-3 teams that have dumpster fire QB situations being interested in him is what I would call washed.
Also y’all have to stop throwing the stats out there with this 26-8 TD-Int. Watch the games watch how he played and watch how the broncos offense had to play for him to do that. It’s literally the same thing that Naggy did with Trabiski in Chicago or Daboll did with Daniel Jones 2 years ago in New York. The numbers look passable and there are winning streaks but actually watch those games and you can see very quickly the QB is the weak link just like with Russ.
Finally in my opinion there is very little difference between Russ and Pickett at this point. I would pry take the younger guy that’s not a locker room headache but pick whichever you like.
Dark ghost…..you do realize that there’s a lot in between washed and playing at a high level. Wilson is probably somewhere around the 15th to 20th best quarterback in the league, which means that he’s 10 quarterbacks better than Pickett and 12-17 better than the rest.
Many of us have a real problem with Sean Payton. He’s a dirty coach, and the mastermind of Bountygate. Dirty hits designed to injure come with every Sean Payton team.
Payton seems to have taken a my way or the highway approach with Russell Wilson. Wilson wasn’t having it. So it’s the highway and the Broncos will be crippled (salary cap, losing players like Justin Simmons) for the next few years. The Broncos were foolish enough to give up more picks for Payton on top of the picks they gave up for Russell Wilson.
What a mess!
Payton is a bad coach and Wilson can still play better than Pickett. I made that clear when I said ‘Bottom line Pickett sucks’.
I don’t know Brees wasn’t looking like a HOFer with the Chargers and you ever see his numbers outside a dome ?
Payton played a huge part in Brees success.
Also you are a guy in a comment board with your opinion on Payton. Here in NY Tiki Barber hosts a radio show & he says Sean Payton was the greatest offensive mind he ever saw on any staff he played under and credits him with his career.
He consistently give him his flowers.
I tend to go with that guy’s opiniin.
Just tell me you didn’t watch broncos games my guy. Just another typical box score operator, who says “but but but look at his TD/int rate!” Ask any bronco real fan what they saw when they watched games, I’ll wait. You’re the same crowd that says rus isn’t washed, but says Derek Carr is a terrible qb. Though Carr put up better numbers in every category. I’ll throw another stat out at ya too, rus has 3 300+ yard games since 2020.
Tell me about the winning streak, Ox. Or 6 wins out of 7. That loss against Houston had him throwing 3 interceptions but none in the 6 wins. You mean those wins against Buffalo and KC had nothing to do with him? ( Yeah, I watched)
As I said to you on the other thread, it’s not that I think Russ will be like Mahomes here or take the Steelers to the promised land. In fact, I’m doubtful they’ll even sign him (but hopeful)
But he’s a marked improvement over what they have and yes, they have weapons to put around him at running back and wideouts
The winning streak was set by an unprecedented amount of turnovers. Historically it’s the best streak of turnovers in nfl history. In the winning streak how many of those games did we have a clear win? None. How many of those games can you say, man rus dominated? None. Pickett in all fairness had Matt Canada as an oc. At the end of the day you have to think, is rus now Hackett rus and Payton got the best out of rus. Or was Hackett rus an outlier. I’ve watched 2 seasons of rus struggle to move the ball. If you have a problem with Pickett moving the ball, not much is going to change. And like I’ve said before, everyone keeps praising rus saying look at his TD to int rate. Yet those same people say Derek Carr is terrible and not a nfl starter.
I never once mentioned Carr. I’d also take Carr over Pickett. I’d take Dwayne Haskins over Pickett.
Baloney, Ox, where Pickett and Canada are concerned. Look, I get that Canada was over his head here. But he designed an offense to correlate to Pickett’s abilities. I get that his defenders want to make Canada a sacrificial lamb but 24 starts in, you’re going to tell me that Tomlin didn’t sign off on what was happening? That’s ridiculous. There’s a reason they rarely threw deep. Or over the middle. Defenses knew it and loaded the box.
But that’s fine.
You repeat the apologist mantra nicely here. And short-shrifting Wilson’s contributions during the win streak tells me that you just don’t like the guy. I get it. Sure, Pickett could have beaten the Bills and Chiefs because of turnovers. Right
Again, it’s not that I’m a Wilson fan. It’s just that he’d be a marked improvement over what’s here now. I applauded the selection of Pickett but 24 starts in, it’s beyond foolishness that he showed no positives thanks to an imbecile OC
You misread what I was saying. Canada and Pickett are the problem. Pickett’s not a starting caliber qb. What do you think defenders did against rus? Stacked the box. You’re not going to see much improved offense swapping Pickett for rus. I had to sit through 2 years of rus stagnating the offense. Or taking unnessecaey sacks, especially when the o line ranked top 10 pff. I’m sick of diva rus. There’s a reason why Carroll was so willing to get rid of him, along side Payton. Everyone keeps thinking Rus is who he was early in his career. What you have now is a shell of a player with limited mobility, and someone who’s only thrown 3 300+ yard games since 2020. He’s nothing more than a bridge qb at this stage, but his ego won’t allow him to be a bridge or a backup. If y’all sign him, don’t say you weren’t warned of a diva media spectacle and mediocre play. You’ve been warned of the headache that comes with signing him.
You know, your points are well taken. We had Roethlisberger stay on here two more years. Mobility was gone. Arm was shot. And the diva in him made mentoring Rudolph, his successor, impossible
That’s all in the recent memories of Steelers fans
I think Wilson will look for a guaranteed starting job—something I’d be shocked if he got here—or will wait it out. He can afford to
Bridge QB. Yeah, you described the final days of the Roethlisberger era
Ok Ox. Appreciate the insight. I get it. Be careful what you wish for
@ Dark Ghost /
For starters, it’s GM George Paton paying Wilson to move on not Payton. Knowing when a player is washed up doesn’t make you smart but knowing when a player has untapped potential might.
I can almost guarantee you Russ didn’t attempt those throws because he’s following the orders of your beloved coach, who by design wanted to avoid any possibility of a turnover.
That part!^
He was better than he was in ’22 which was terrible. Only one way to go from there. Denver won games because of their defense this year for some of that. He is one of the least aggressive QBs. Which sound like a good thing but you have to take chances. Dumpoffs and safe throws to protect your counting numbers don’t help a team win. Having said all that he’s still better than Pickett and Steelers fans should roll out the welcome mat if it’s between these two.
What did he do the year before under a coach that was horrible but still better than Canada ?
And someone please explain to my why the only reason they cut him was because he wouldn’t renegotiate his injury guarantees ?
So they pay him to play somewhere else
That makes no sense
To me that screams they had no belief in the guy so use his injury guarantee nonsense to save face to the fanbase when you cut him because your new coach doesn’t believe in him & his teammates hate him
You said the only reason they cut him is because he wouldn’t agree to renegotiate his injury guarantees and then later say that they don’t believe in him and the injury guarantee is to save face…theres your answer. It’s not the guarantees, it’s his play. His counting numbers look better because he became a conservative player and took little to no chances. Washed? No, diminished? Greatly.
Think you got my comment confused with someone else’s. I don’t believe for 1 seconded he got cut because of the injury guarantee
They used that to save face
He sucked in Hackett’s system & he was ok in Payton’s. Payton knew he couldn’t do what he wants from the QB position with Russ because he is washed
You’re right, my mistake. I was reading too many comments.
The injury guarantee was just another way of renegotiating his contract. If he didn’t remove it and they kept him this season it was another 37 mil guaranteed on his already albatross of a contract he wasn’t living up to. The thing is what most casuals don’t understand is that these are commonplace in the nfl to renegotiate things like this on contracts, they just don’t usually happen to the magnitude of “dangerrus”
He gets sacked too much. He lost his elusive escape artist magic awhile ago. – SEAHAWKS FAN
Diva, yes. Washed, no. He made some lemonade in Denver. Right team, right atmosphere, he may just conform.
Mike T handled Ben, AB, and Bell all at once. Russ is a walk in the park honestly.
He made no lemonade. He stalled out the offense. If rus made lemonade this year, then Carr made wine.
Even if good Pickett shows up, you could still just cut Wilson any time later and not be a big deal. He’s going to get the vet minimum because Denver is already on the hook.
What’s ‘good Pickett’ look like? A TJ scoop and score for his only win when the opponent scores 20+? 278 yards and 0 TD’s and 16 points against the worst defense in the league? Asking because I really haven’t seen a ‘good Pickett’ and I religiously watch every Steelers game.
If Wilson will be taking the league minimum to play anywhere, why choose Pittsburgh? There are 3-4 other teams with better weapons to help boost his chances of landing a longer contract in 2025. Most teams would take a flier on him even at the level he played in Denver for such a small cap hit.
I love the “diva” comment. Here in the home of divas, from Roethlisberger, to AB, to Plex, to Martavis and Bell, that’s funny. And the fact that guys like Marshawn Lynch and the most overrated coach in the NFL, Payton, castigate the guy is even more funny. After all, Payton benched Wilson for the audacity of not agreeing to restructure his contract
If nothing else, this kind of signing allows the Steelers to kick the can down the road for awhile and let Pickett “learn” as he holds the clipboard Not saying he’s Jordan Love, but the precedent is there for them to save some face
And “washed?” His signing would make the Steelers instantly a more credible offense
They would absolutely be a SB contender with Wilson.
As far as AB, his antics didn’t start until after he left. Js
And theres actually a difference between diva and what Plax and MB were.
AB’s antics started before he left. He was suspended for the last game of the year against the Bengals, a game they had to win to make the playoffs (and barely did). The Steelers tried to quell his “insanity” with various meetings that offseason, the last of which was a visit to his home by Art Rooney jr. They finally gave up, and traded him to Buffalo for a 1st rd draft pick, and even though Buffalo agreed to restructure his contract to give him what he financially wanted, he still inevitably just balked and refused to play for them. Then after the trade to Oakland, he was cut 3 weeks into training camp for further antics, and was signed a few weeks later by the Patriots, where he made it a whole week before being cut. Do you know how mentally gone you have to be to get immediately cut by teams, who have already paid you big guaranteed $, when you are possibly the best WR in the league? If you think his last few weeks with Pittsburgh were the only time this guy went “bonko”, then I have some swamp land to sell you.
Well stated, Cosmo
I actually think the ability to keep a team together is Tomlin’s biggest forte. Seriously.
I wish teams were full of Troy’s. Or Heath’s. Or Farrior’s. On the contrary , I think there must be many, many egos at work
I don’t have much doubt that as AB became more of a household name his ego ballooned. We’ll never know what lengths Tomlin had to go to.
We’ve talked about this before but if Pickett sits all year, when June 2025 comes around, do the Steelers pick up his 5th year option? You potentially don’t know any more about him then than you do now. Plus if Wilson does good in 2024-25, he’ll be the starter for 2025-26
I tend to think either they’ll give Pickett another year immediately—which I still lean towards—or they’ll play the Jordan Love game and push the decision back
Admitting they made a mistake just isn’t the Steelers way—at least not easily. Pickett’s a Pitt guy, a feel good story here in town that causes many to still look at a couple of his comeback wins as being indicators of how great he’ll be
I mean after all, it was Matt Canada’s fault completely
He might be a “problem” if he isn’t the starter. He was a $39 million problem when he was the starter in Denver.
He wasn’t a problem. He got benched because they didn’t want to pay the injury guarantee – and that’s the sole reason.
That’s not true. Wilson got benched because he could not utilize timing or the middle of the field, which are huge impediments for most offensive schemes, let alone one as complex as the one Denver is currently trying to run with Payton.
Also, Denver did not want Wilson to waive his guarantee. They wished for him to delay it so that it would vest at a later time. Of course Wilson said no, as it would make cutting him more expensive (it did), but he is the one who made the assertion that they wanted it waived. In my opinion, had he agreed, the Broncos actually may not have cut him at all, though it was still possible. Regardless, this conversation only occurred because Wilson, despite his notable improvement, was still limited and underachieving compared to his contract.
The untrue injury guarantee comments, and personal office and special treatment in Denver, point to sone diva behavior, but I do agree that Wilson really isn’t a personnel problem. He’s a bit less effective with his legs, which affects his playstyle, but he’s not “washed”. I agree that Wilson still can bd effective, and he does seem to still be a hard worker and do well with his teammates. Ultimately, his issue is that he needs to play his style of ball, and close to only his style-so if a team wants to maximize his effectiveness, they’ll need to adapt to it, and the ebbs and flows that that may entail.
Make it happen Omar.
Adding Wilson would send an interesting message to KP and MR
Rudolph isn’t on the roster. Who cares about his feelings… (or Pickett’s.)
Yeah, a message that needs to be sent to KP. First round pick status just buys you some time, but the performance needs to match. The Jets are experts in the field.
God no please
I think he’s an upgrade over what they currently have, even at this stage in his career, but it doesn’t seem like a natural fit to put a QB who doesn’t throw over the middle much or very well with Arthur Smith.
Leagues ahead of Pickett.
Do it, the rest of the AFC North hopes you do. This could be almost as much fun as watching Manziel getting ragdolled every snap.
Yeah, they went 5-1 against the division last year and are 7-1 in the last 8 against Baltimore. But hey, good point
I’m sure the division would just love Wilson here instead of Pickett. Or Rudolph. Or maybe Duck Hodges is available.
So let me get this right Russ is the answer because he played decent in a successful offensive coaches system a year after he sucked in his first year in Denver ?
But Kenny is garbage because he was put in the hands of probably the worst OC with the worst offensive scheme the NFL has ever seen.
I consistently see guys posting on here about how much football they watch & what they know but yet they never acknowledge the fact that not only was Canada’s playbook horrible but he couldn’t script a game plan & he couldn’t call a game in any sort of rhythm. It was like watching a kid playing Madden and the kid wasn’t even good. How many times did he have a simple play that was successful & then he continued to beat that play to death.
I am not saying Kenny is the answer but at the end of the day the kid got to play 1 game with an average at best play caller calling plays from the worst playbook known to man.
Everyone on here screams bout how much more successful Mason was yet he didn’t take a snap this year with Canada on the headset. Kenny played 1 game without Canada & he looked great.
I will believe it when I see it that Russ will come to Pittsburgh. I really can’t see it Payton is actually paying him a ridiculous amount of money to play for another team. You can say all you want about them releasing him because he wouldn’t rework his deal but at the end of the day not only are they paying him not to play for them but paying him to play for someone else.
Pete Carrol at 70 whatever years old rolled with Geno Smith over him to try and get another championship knowing he didn’t have much time left. That right there tells you something about the guy. Throw in the amount of teammates that either have something bad to say about him or would just rather say no comment when any topic towards him comes up.
I am far from a Kenny apologist but at the end of the day he was not given any opportunity to succeed since he been here.
First year got no first team reps in preseason and as the year went on he performed better. Took a big step up in the preseason making all the throws that guys in her complain he can’t make now.
Played behind bout the worst LT & worst Center in the game. Throwing to a diva WR who cries when he doesn’t get the ball or when he does get it thrown he drops it or he catches it & runs backwards but has nothing to say about his mistakes.
Freiermuth can’t block to save his life but Canada refused to allow Kenny to use him in the middle of the field. Sullivan does and it’s Pat’s best game of his career.
Tired of the experts on here who know everything yet prove everyday they don’t know anything.
A little rambling, but somehow the smartest comment I’ve ever seen on this site.
If Payton really believed Russ had anything left in the tank do you really believe he would allow them to eat all that money knowing he had the opportunity to go to another AFC team that could squeeze his team out the playoffs ?
Come on man make it make sense nothing about the so called reason he was released makes any kind of sense to me & anyone that believes that BS I question their intelligence
He was released because Russ does not give Payton the ability to do what he wants to do from the QB position. Plain & simple.
I just don’t honestly know what this does for Pittsburgh. If the Steelers were planning on selecting a new QB, and did not have a vet starter on the roster (e.g. Rudolph, who would need to be signed, or Pickett even), it may make sense to add Wilson as a bridge starter as they start over. However, it appears that Pittsburgh is preparing to give Pickett one more shot at the starting job, albeit in a competition scenario.
I suppose Wilson could make sense as a short, cheap rental, but I’m not sure that he’s trying to settle for that (rightfully or wrongfully). It just doesn’t seem to add much value versus what their alternative plan would be. Unless they’re jettisoning Pickett and starting over completely, it doesn’t seem to add much value luring in Wilson versus using Rudolph/Pickett as a bridge starter if they elect to select a new passer. It seems to me that somewhere like Washington, Atlanta (Tampa if Mayfield leaves), or possibly Chicago may make sense, as those teams may select a quarterback who could need to sit, or they may build at other positions and could need a one or two year starter.
Of course, this is all based on my belief that Wilson is not a long term option no matter what. I could be wrong and he thrives in a run heavy offense more similar to Seattle, one that allow him to play more scramble drill, less organized ball. That would need significant adjustment on Pittsburgh’s end to Wilson’s style, and the offense would be much more based on him. To me, it doesn’t seem worth it based on the last two years in Denver and the Steelers’ long term questions at quarterback, but I’m no expert.
Enjoyed your last couple of posts, Ak. Many thanks
I prefer to focus on the Wilson who engineered a 5 game winning streak and 6 out of 7, to be accurate. Three of those wins came against GB, KC and at Buffalo in a game the Bills were desperate to win at that time
The guy is far from washed and offers leadership and veteran presence. Clearly, he landed in Payton’s doghouse for myriad reasons but a fresh start would be an immediate upgrade
I’m repeating myself here but I think this upcoming meeting is merely kicking the tires and nothing more. Hope I’m wrong, but whether you like Tomlin or not, there’s a stubborn streak that refuses to admit mistakes.
They’re intent in squeezing out one more season as the final proving ground. The dilemma is whether they think there’s immediacy with the offensive core here that a veteran presence could maximize
If so, maybe they sign a Wilson and allow Pickett to be a Jordan Love-type for a couple seasons. Learning behind a veteran
Still, I’ll believe it when I see it
Russ gets paid whether he signs or sits, correct?
If so, he only signs in Pittsburgh (or anywhere else) if they tell him the job is his. Otherwise he should just wait out the market and sign with whoever needs him as a starter after the draft or an early season injury.
Its the smartest thing to do, and its in line with his ego.
I actually think that’s what he’s intending to do, Goodkat. At this point, why would he settle for “you’ll have the chance to compete”
And I think it’s what anyone in his shoes would do. Him. Cousins. Rodgers.
I still say the Steelers *will* bring in a vet, but I’m thinking a Tannehill, Brissett type
I see your point, tiredolddude_. Many thanks for the platitudes, I am quite grateful.
I don’t dispute that Wilson would offer an upgrade from the Steelers’ options. That’s not because I think that Wilson is washed, mind you. It’s just because it takes a commitment to get the most out if his skills. I see where Wilson could essentially sub in for Rudolph in the previously assumed Pickett/Rudolph competition. I still don’t think that it ultimately offers a more permanent solution, because they would need to create an offense for Wilson that may not fit a new pick that could come along soon.
The advantage though, as you alluded to, is that Tomlin’s oft criticized no loss record does have a few advantages. The biggest one is that the Steelers probably have the best (or one of the best) long term cultures in the league. Year and year out, the Steelers compete. I know many people are frustrated at the lack of recent playoff success, but the other side of trying to compete every year is that it sets a high expectation amongst the players. When a player goes to Pittsburgh, he knows that he’s expected to compete. Wilson would contribute more to that than the others. If I look at both sides, I can see the payoff there. If it’s me, though, I have to consider signing Wilson to be my move if I prepared to either pick a new QB or start him for at least two seasons, with an offensive makeover. Just my (very unprofessional) impression.
No I agree completely, Ak. To me, if they go the route of signing Wilson, they’re going to use the Packers model i.e. Jordan Love. Mind you, I don’t think Pickett is the athlete Love is, but it allows them to save face and buy into the idea that “all they need is a QB to be a serious contender” talk
Again, I think this is a kick the tires meeting and as Goodkat notes, I just don’t think they’d guarantee Wilson the starting job
(For me at least, I think this team is more than just a QB away)
Agreed.
Madden’s column in today’s Trib states the likely scenario with the meeting between Wilson and the Steelers. Tell him he’ll “compete” for the starting job or be a “mentor” for the kid.
It’s a kick the tires moment for the Steelers, a chance to say hey, we tried.
I hope I am surprised but the stubbornness of this management group is confounding.
The answer seems obvious to me, Mason Rudolph. But for whatever reason, Tomlin doesn’t seem to like Rudolph and is not in a hurry to help him have a career. Rudolph should go somewhere where they will give him a chance to start for a season or two.
The young man has had an uphill climb since he got here. Shunned by the prima Donna QB in front of him, hammered in the Ravens game, assaulted in the Browns game, benched in favor of a guy they got largely off the street and never given another chance until necessity called.
Has a great run to end ‘23 and benched again
Only thing is, is there a market for him or a better avenue for him to possibly start at some point? If so, why would he stay here?
No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no