One day after predicting the Baltimore Ravens loss as the beginning of the end for the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers, former NFL GM Mike Tannenbaum believes without a playoff win, QB Russell Wilson will be thrown on the scrap heap of veteran quarterbacks. But if Wilson can turn the Steelers around and lead them to their first postseason win since 2016, there’s big money on the other side.
“He’s looking at Baker Mayfield $30, $35 million a year as [a] bona fide starter,” Tannenbaum said on Wednesday’s Get Up. “If not, he goes into that sort of like Jacoby Brissett, Case Keenum, sort of like that veteran backup player. He’s not a starting quarterback from this standpoint, if you don’t think he could get you to the playoffs and win a game.
“And when you go back to last week’s game when they had Minkah Fitzpatrick’s interception and then that pick-six. That changed the trajectory of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season, the Baltimore Ravens’ season, and possibly Russell Wilson’s career as a starter.”
Squint and Tannenbaum’s overall point is understood. The more success Wilson has, the higher regard he’ll be held in, and the more his market value rises. But no matter what happens in the postseason, Wilson has shown he’s still a capable starting quarterback in the league. Physically, he still looks impressive with a live arm and enough mobility, even if he should consider sliding more often. Whispers over his lingering calf injury quickly faded once he began leading Pittsburgh to several midseason wins. And he’s proven many, myself included, wrong who questioned if turning to Wilson was the correct answer (to Tannenbaum’s credit, he was largely onboard with the decision).
Given the landscape of 2025 quarterbacks, it’s hard to believe Wilson won’t solidly have a starting job. Most likely in Pittsburgh but somewhere in the NFL. The free agent pool of options is shallow, especially if Sam Darnold re-ups in Minnesota. An idea looking likelier the better he plays for them. Beyond him, there’s teammate Justin Fields and likely Kirk Cousins, though the latter appears a shell of himself and a body that is breaking down. Wilson is the better quarterback with more longevity.
The draft class is also projected to be one of the weaker groups in recent memory with possibly only two first-round selections in Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami (Fla.)’s Cam Ward.
Those factors drive up Wilson’s value. Winning a playoff game would certainly help and potentially take him from Mayfield money to the $40 million mark, essentially his price tag for 2024 that the Denver Broncos are largely paying. But it’s hard to see a scenario in which he signs a cheap, one-year deal like the $8 million pact Brissett signed to keep Drake Maye’s seat warm. Keenum signed for even less.
Knowing the good relationship between Wilson and Mike Tomlin and the benefits for both sides of him remaining in Pittsburgh, a long-term deal for good money will likely occur come March. Determining the exact structure and moment still hangs in the balance but a Mayfield deal seems like the floor, not the ceiling.
