The Steelers made their Russell Wilson stance fairly clear this offseason. The team launched a committed effort to retain Justin Fields, who had primarily backed up Wilson in 2024, and explored a pricier Sam Darnold addition. Once it became clear Fields would test the market, Pittsburgh became linked to Aaron Rodgers.
As the Rodgers holding pattern persists, Wilson provided some clarity Tuesday by committing to the Giants. The 13-year veteran becoming a New York bridge option points Rodgers to Pittsburgh or continuing to wait out Minnesota, the latter believed to be his preferred option. With Wilson no longer in place behind Rodgers in teams’ free agency queues, the Steelers also have one fewer option in the event Rodgers balks.
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Wilson, however, expressed interest in re-signing with the Steelers on a few occasions after reclaiming his starting job last October. This preference remained well into the offseason as well, as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac indicates the 36-year-old passer wanted to stay in Pittsburgh up until his New York commitment became final. That decision made Wilson a one-and-done with the Steelers, who had turned a 10-3 start into a five-game losing streak that ended with a one-sided playoff loss.
Back in November, rumblings about Steelers interest in re-signing Wilson emerged. At the time, Wilson was amid a stretch featuring six wins in his first seven starts. Wilson then said on multiple occasions he wanted to re-sign with Pittsburgh, as his Pennsylvania tenure started much better than his Colorado stay had. But after five straight losses to close last season, the Steelers shifted their thinking.
Some in the Steelers’ building viewed Wilson as “physically done,” Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio adds. The team became more interested in Fields’ potential upside than a known commodity like Wilson, and after Fields’ two-year, $40MM Jets deal, Even after that deal, Pittsburgh did not make a renewed pitch to make sure it could re-sign Wilson, only viewing him as a fallback option as Rodgers became the focus. That remained the case leading into Tuesday’s Wilson-Giants agreement.
The Steelers spoke with both Wilson and Fields about re-signings, but it was not hard to see their hierarchy did not reflect the 2024 depth chart. Going into his age-26 season, Fields drew more interest. He landed $30MM guaranteed at signing from the Jets, who will see if he can be a viable Rodgers replacement and harness potential teams observed when he went 11th overall in the 2021 draft. Mike Tomlin preferred Wilson as a passer last season, but the primary Pittsburgh starter clashed with OC Arthur Smith at points. Fields seeing Tomlin call for his benching also undoubtedly factored into the younger Steelers QB’s decision to pass on an offer to stay.
The past three seasons have brought a humbling period for Wilson, who has gone from a player who had appeared on a cruise toward the Hall of Fame to a declining option that suddenly brings some doubt regarding a Canton path. While Wilson may well have done enough in Seattle to secure a spot in Canton, his Denver and Pittsburgh years did not burnish his case.
Still the No. 4 all-time leading rusher among QBs, Wilson is also fourth in sacks taken. Unlike No. 1 on that list (Rodgers), Wilson does not have an array of All-Pros to balance that out. The Giants will bet on Wilson (22nd in 2024 QBR) having enough left to be a functional option in an offense that has largely lacked it since Daniel Jones‘ outlier 2022 season.
Relentlessly positive, Wilson has now seen two teams give up on him in two offseasons. It is not known if the Steelers made Wilson an offer, though they undoubtedly had a price range for a player who made 12 starts for them last season. They did not make much of an effort to re-sign him, per Florio.
The Browns, who hosted Wilson on a visit, may not have made a firm proposal, either. Though, Cleveland having contract parameters in place made sense due to the Giants needing to guarantee Wilson $10.5MM. Available to the Steelers for the veteran minimum due to his Broncos contract covering the rest last year, Wilson commanded a decent 2025 guarantee. He certainly will not lack for motivation going into his Giants debut.
He really doesn’t wanna play for the Giants
His wife is good with it though
I didn’t want Russ, I wanted Fields. But regardless of who you preferred for the Steelers, you have to admit that they couldn’t have handled the situation more poorly if they had tried to. From Art Rooney to Omar Khan to Mike Tomlin, a total abysmal failure.
I just don’t get all of this and think there’s something more we aren’t hearing
Russ lights up the Bengals for 44 in a shootout
Smith (and Tomlin) don’t like that he changed plays
They handcuff him
And go on to lose 5 straight
How does that make sense exactly?
And they then close the door on Russ coming back?
And how does bringing in another veteran all pro fit into that thinking? Do they think he’ll allow himself to be shackled?
It’s not that I’m a fan of Fields or Wilson, but you’re right. “Abysmal failure” is being too kind. Too many egos
Monkeys Uncle: You may be right, but if their plan from the start was to zero in on Rodgers, then it’s not necessarily poor handling. Now, if Rodgers spurns them by retiring or something and they’re forced to start Rudolph, *that* would be a big failure.
But even then, they could pivot by drafting a QB. Or rolling with Rudolph and tanking properly. Not likely considering they acquired Metcalf, but might be the best thing long term.
This feels like a really sad/lame love triangle where Rodgers wants the Vikings and will settle for the Steelers and Wilson wants the Steelers and will settle for the Giants.
This whole CF is on Tomlin. He has mishandled everything from when he benched Fields and kept him there even after Wilson lost against KC before the last game against the Bengals and the playoffs. Not that Fields is spectacular, but enough with the aged out QBs already.
Yep this keeps getting better and better. Choices are down to Rodgers and giving up your draft to move up to get a QB who will come from a fairly weak class. Can’t wait to see how it turns out. Still laughing.
The proper move at this point is to roll with Rudolph and hope for a decent tank job. I’d combine that with trading out of the first round with the goal of getting another 1st next year. That pick, combined with all the compensatory picks the Steelers should get (hat tip to the Titans for that insane Dan Moore contract), should be enough ammo to move up for a QB.
All that said, they won’t do that. If/when they sign Rodgers, I hope that it’s only a 1 year deal and there won’t be cap implications going forward. A 2-3 year deal with most of the money pushed to the future would be a colossal mistake.
The terms “tank” and “Pittsburgh” just don’t go together, even if they don’t get Rodgers, they’ll still find a way to avoid a losing season. There might be an unusual veteran signing, like someone like Desmond Ridder, but more likely they draft someone to be plan B or C.
Agreed. They are not signing Metcalf to that deal plus having the big contracts of Watt and Fitzpatrick to go in tank mode. That just never happens in Pittsburgh although a fresh restart is really needed. My guess is if they don’t sign Rodgers they either sign another veteran (Flacco maybe?) or pull off a trade to recoup the 2nd rounder lost in the Metcalf trade and draft another qb at that point.