The decision to not only meet with veteran quarterback Russell Wilson ahead of free agency, but reportedly come to an agreement on a one-year deal late Sunday night was rather surprising from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ standpoint.
After talk all offseason that there was “full faith” in third-year quarterback Kenny Pickett and a desire to re-sign veteran Mason Rudolph, the Steelers quickly pivoted in the hours before the start of the NFL free agency legal tampering window, agreeing with Wilson on a one-year, $1.21 million deal, which is the league minimum.
On the surface, Wilson appears to be walking in as the Day 1 starter for the Black and Gold. But Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer doesn’t believe that’s the case based on the Steelers clearly setting expectations with Wilson, expectations that he will have to come in and compete with Pickett for the starting job.
Wilson, to his credit, seemingly knows what type of situation he’s stepping into. The Steelers aren’t exactly giving up on Pickett, at least internally, though on the outside the move to sign Wilson — even for a season — signals the end of the Pickett era in Pittsburgh.
Undoubtedly though, there were some assurances from the Steelers’ standpoint to Wilson about the opportunity for the starting job. If there wasn’t and they truly pitched it as a “competition” with Pickett, it seems incredibly unlikely that Wilson, at this stage of his career, would have agreed to that.
Regardless, he’s set to become a Steeler when free agency opens on Wednesday as soon as his release from the Broncos becomes official.
Coming in and competing with a third-year quarterback who has just 13 touchdown passes in 25 career games seems a bit far-fetched regardless of the message coming from the Steelers.
Wilson, though he was benched late last season in a contract dispute with the Broncos, played well in 2023. He threw for 3,070 yards and 26 touchdowns with just eight interceptions. He had the league’s best QB rating in the red zone and the league’s best Pro Football Focus grade in the red zone as well.
Wilson was dynamite on play-action, too, boasting a 115.2 rating on play-action passes. He still throws a terrific deep ball, makes sound decisions with the football and can still make some plays when the pocket collapses. Those are some things that Pickett simply doesn’t do, which is why the Steelers found themselves in the market for a quarterback this offseason.
Russell Wilson will come in and do and say all the right things from a teammate and leadership perspective. He’ll come in and compete his tail off, too, but it seems a bit silly to call this a competition when, on paper, there is no chance this is a competition whatsoever.
