It was the addition of a big name at a premium position, but it came at a very cheap cost, making it a good move right away.
Entering Week 15 and sitting at 10-3 on the season, including 6-1 with him as the starting quarterback, the offseason signing of veteran quarterback Russell Wilson to a one-year, $1.21 million deal in free agency by the Pittsburgh Steelers is now easily one of the best moves of the offseason.
But, according to Pro Football Focus, it’s not even the best one at the position.
In assessing the NFL’s offseason free agency moves, PFF’s Bradley Locker ranks the Minnesota Vikings’ signing of Sam Darnold to a one-year, $10 million deal as the league’s best move at the QB position, not Wilson.
Still, the Wilson signing was a great move as he comes in at No. 4 in Locker’s rankings, behind Darnold, RB Derrick Henry to the Ravens, and RB Saquon Barkley to the Eagles.
“When the Steelers inked Wilson to a one-year, $1.2 million deal at the start of free agency, few expected anything more than average play on a one-year trial. But the actual results have been starkly different: Wilson’s 78.5 PFF passing grade ranks ninth among qualifying quarterbacks, and his 1.2% turnover-worthy play rate is the lowest in football,” Locker writes. “Wilson is offering Pittsburgh its best quarterback play in nearly six seasons, proving the catalyst for an offense that has improved to 16th in EPA per play in 2024.”
The move at the time wasn’t viewed as a big one, and for good reason. Wilson was coming off a tough two-year stint in Denver, and the Broncos were taking an $80-plus million dead cap hit to get rid of the nine-time Pro Bowler, resetting under head coach Sean Payton.
There were plenty of questions about Wilson’s abilities at that point in his career, if he could continue to throw the deep ball well, if he could adjust his game to fit today’s NFL, and if he could adapt to a blue-collar setting like Pittsburgh, putting his perceived ego aside.
So far, all those questions have been answered emphatically. Wilson is playing some of the best ball of his career and is a great leader for a young Steelers offense, one players look to and are learning from. He’s given the Steelers’ offense a significant spark, elevating them to a top-10 scoring offense, which pairs very nicely with one of the league’s best defenses.
And he’s creating splash plays in the passing game at a prolific rate, which has many buying into the Steelers being a legitimate Super Bowl contender. That alone makes him arguably the best free agency signing, especially considering how cheap he was compared to a guy like Darnold.
