It seems as if the Pittsburgh Steelers want to dip their toes into the quarterback market with Russell Wilson, but if Wilson doesn’t come to Pittsburgh, the team apparently isn’t going to pivot to another big-name quarterback.
“I don’t think the Justin Fields deal, despite how much they liked him when he was coming out, what I was told was that despite all those things that were being said, that wasn’t going to happen,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac said Friday during an appearance on the DVE Morning Show. “Same with Kirk Cousins, but the Russell Wilson thing is very real.”
Dulac was the first to report the interest between Wilson and the Steelers and Pittsburgh’s intent to meet with him, a meeting that’s reportedly happening within the next 24 hours. Wilson has interest from other teams, which Dulac said could be the hold up between him getting a deal done with the Steelers.
One of the teams Wilson may reportedly meet with is the Las Vegas Raiders, and the Raiders could give Wilson a clear shot to come in as the starter. In Pittsburgh, the Steelers would likely want him to compete with QB Kenny Pickett, something that could also be a deterrent to a current deal if Wilson can get a better opportunity elsewhere. It’s interesting though that Pittsburgh even has interest in Wilson after GM Omar Khan said that the team has have full faith in Pickett and seemingly having an interest in bringing back Mason Rudolph.
All along, it seemed as if the plan would be to have Rudolph and Pickett compete, but the Wilson interest seems genuine, and it’ll be interesting to see what comes of it. If Wilson is content coming in and competing, the Steelers will have a proven veteran who’s won a Super Bowl to come in and push Pickett and potentially win the job. However, it also opens up issues down the line as Wilson is 35 and may not a viable option for more than a season or two.
Pittsburgh has been linked to Fields a number of times as the Bears likely look to trade him since they hold the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter said the Steelers loved Fields when he was coming out of Ohio State. Despite that, it doesn’t seem as if the team had any interest in making a move for him, according to Dulac, and that could be for a number of reasons. For one, Fields likely wouldn’t have come in to compete like Pittsburgh would likely want Wilson to do, and the cost to acquire Fields would’ve been higher than Wilson.
Wilson can sign for the veteran minimum although I do think he’ll get more than that so the team that signs him has some investment in him, and trading for Fields would’ve cost draft capital. With a number of holes to plug this offseason, it wouldn’t have been a wise move for the Steelers to part with a pick to bring in a quarterback who might not prove to be a huge upgrade over Pickett, especially with guys like Wilson available on the free agent market.
Signing Cousins also would cement him as Pittsburgh’s starter and be a lot more expensive than signing Wilson, so it’s not much of a surprise that there isn’t any serious interest there. I’m intrigued to see whether Pittsburgh’s interest in Wilson amounts to anything. It’s hard to fathom Wilson being a backup next season, but stranger things have happened. Needless to say, it’s been a crazy offseason for the Steelers, and we haven’t even hit free agency yet.
