New Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson signed for one clear reason. Win Super Bowls. He made that clear at the start of his introductory press conference Friday afternoon, setting clear expectations for himself and the team.
“The reason I wanted to come here is because I wanted to be able to win championships with Coach [Mike] Tomlin and these guys in the locker room,” he said as carried by the team’s YouTube channel. “We’ve got some amazing players.”
Essentially a free agent for the first time in his career, given permission by the Denver Broncos to speak with other teams ahead of his official release, Wilson had his pick of teams to sign with. He visited the New York Giants last Thursday before flying into Pittsburgh Friday morning. Following a six-hour meeting at the team’s facility, Wilson agreed to terms on Sunday evening.
Wilson said being in the city and taking a tour of the area helped sell him on signing with the team.
“I was fortunate to have several teams call and all that. But this is the place that I wanted to be. A Pittsburgh Steeler and to wear the Black and Gold,” he said. “It’s a true honor. It’s tradition, it’s history.”
Wilson was in a unique situation, financially affordable due to offset language that will see the Broncos pay nearly $38 million of his 2024 salary. That made him an option for a team like Pittsburgh, looking to add an established quarterback without spending a ton of money to do so, which would make that signee the de facto starter. That led them to Wilson, who will compete with QB Kenny Pickett for the starting job this summer.
Throughout the press conference, Wilson punted on questions that asked if he expected to be the starter, putting the focus on being the best version of himself and doing everything to help the team win.
“Grateful for the opportunity to be able to get after it and do what we came here to do,” Wilson said. “And that’s to win football games.”
For both sides, winning a Super Bowl starts with winning a playoff game, and the Steelers and Wilson are mired in droughts. Since the 2017 season, Pittsburgh has zero playoff wins, years ending just shy of the postseason or quick Wild Card exits. Wilson has just one playoff win during that time, a 17-9 Wild Card victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2019 season before falling to the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round.
But Wilson’s vision is clear and concise.
“There’s six trophies in there,” he said, “and we gotta get a seventh.”
