Former Denver Broncos QB Russell Wilson intends to subject his body to 17-plus games of football essentially for free. He will earn $39 million in 2024 whether he plays or not, because the Broncos owe him that. Instead, he wants to play in the name of his career, his legacy, and, well, his trophy case.
That’s why Wilson opted to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers, an organization he views as affording him the potential for a long-term opportunity. During his introductory press conference, he spoke of believing he has five to seven years of good ball left. He met the team brass for many hours, and they mutually came away impressed.
“The biggest takeaway from those conversations is that he did his research,” Tomlin said of Wilson yesterday, via Dale Lolley for the team’s website. “Prior to those conversations happening, he knew a lot about us, where we are, where we’ve got a desire to go, personnel, etc. I think probably the most attention-grabbing component was how thorough he had been in the research process regarding us”.
Of course, he’s had 12 years in the league to learn about the Steelers, but I don’t doubt he came prepared. The Steelers aren’t the biggest mystery in the league, either to Wilson or to anybody else. Especially lately, they’re coalescing around a run-heavy, big-people identity with a fast and opportunistic defense.
Tomlin’s long presence provides a natural stability and consistency to affairs, as well. Of course, things change over the years, but Wilson sees the Steelers saying the same things every year. They’re going for the Super Bowl annually, whether outsiders view them as contenders or not. And that’s what he wants, too.
“I think probably the most attractive component of his profile to me is his quest for greatness, his chase for legacy”, Tomlin said of Wilson. “This is not a guy who is hungry, meaning that he can be satisfied. This is a guy that’s driven and you want to work with people who have that mindset”.
Wilson has a 111-72-1 all-time regular-season record, though he’s posted three straight losing seasons. He is 9-7 in his career in the playoffs with two Super Bowl appearances and one win. He hasn’t won a playoff game since 2019, however, while the Steelers haven’t won one since 2016. They each hope their union gets the pair back on track. It’s about the long view for both.
“This guy’s got a vision of what he wants his career to look like. And he’s got a lot of work to do”, Tomlin said. “Obviously, he’s had some professional challenges, particularly in recent years, and he appears to be a guy that wants to meet those challenges head on and continue to move forward with his career, and that was attractive”.
Those challenges include the Broncos cutting him despite owing him $39 million guaranteed. They benched him at the end of last season after he declined to waive injury guarantees in his contract. Now he has to prove that just because things didn’t work out in Denver doesn’t mean he can’t make it work in the right place. He chose the Steelers as much as they chose him.
