The Pittsburgh Steelers have themselves a new quarterback in Russell Wilson. The 13th-year veteran basically revealed the news himself on Twitter, so I don’t think I’m going out on a limb. I don’t imagine Kenny Pickett stands much chance of unseating him in a “competition” later this year. And perhaps Wilson saw Pickett as an easier challenge than, oh, I don’t know, Daniel Jones.
The New York Giants are the other team with whom Wilson already visited. Much like the teams that pursued offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, however, Wilson is leaving them on read. Josina Anderson reports that New York was “still waiting to hear back” as of just hours ago.
The news of Wilson declaring his intent to sign with the Steelers broke shortly before midnight. It’s now Monday morning, and Jones is the only QB the Giants currently have under contract. Their 2019 first-round draft pick, Jones missed most of the 2023 season due to injury. Both Tyrod Taylor and Jacob Eason hit the open market on Wednesday, and Taylor will draw some attention.
The Denver Broncos made Wilson an attractive option because of his contract guarantees. They still owe him something like $38 million, offset only by whatever his new team pays him. Thus, nobody has the incentive to pay him more than the veteran minimum with the Broncos still paying him handsomely.
The Steelers ABCed their way to an agreed contract after a six-hour visit on Friday, closing throughout the weekend. Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that “it appeared it might not happen”, but they closed the deal.
And they did so while the Giants waited to hear back. As we know, players still want to play for head coach Mike Tomlin, and I think this is a textbook example of that principle playing a role in a deal. The relatively clear path to a starting job didn’t hurt, either, mind you.
Now the Steelers have—or will have—Kenny Pickett and Russell Wilson under contract going into the new league year. The Giants have just Jones, who tore his ACL in Week 8 of the 2023 season. He also has a history of neck problems—and a history of mediocre play as well.
The good news is the Steelers have no reason to care what the Giants do from here on out. Nor did they have any reason to care how the other teams that wanted to interview Smith felt. They got the guys they set their sights on.
At least in that, we can judge them fairly based on what happens over the next year. They have Russell Wilson under center and Arthur Smith running the offense. That would have sounded kind of awesome about four years ago.
