Russell Wilson is having quite the debut season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. His season started late after a calf injury sidelined him for six games. Once Wilson entered the lineup, though, he started to excel. He won six of his first seven games in charge of the offense. Wilson even had the Steelers looking like legitimate Super Bowl contenders earlier in the year.
Since then, things have soured. Pittsburgh has dropped three games in a row, and Wilson has had his struggles in each. He hasn’t been terrible, but he’s been responsible for some crucial turnovers that changed the momentum in multiple losses. However, Pittsburgh can still turn things around with a favorable matchup against a struggling Cincinnati Bengals defense on Saturday.
Fox Sports’ Emmanuel Acho foresees a scenario in which the season ends as badly as possible for Wilson and the Steelers. If the Steelers lose to the Bengals on Saturday and follow that up with a quick exit in the postseason, Acho finds it hard to bring Wilson back if the price is too high, as he explained on FS1’s The Facility on Wednesday.
“Imagine having to write a check to Russell Wilson for $45 million annually, and you’re on a five-game losing streak,” Acho said. “Imagine having the same record you had when Kenny Pickett was your starter, but now you gotta pay the dude $45 million. Albeit the play has been different… I just don’t know. How much confidence can you have writing a $120 million, maybe $100 million guaranteed check on a five-game losing streak.”
Acho is right that the Steelers would have the same record as when Pickett was the starter. That doesn’t make it a good comparison, though. Pickett never played at an above-average level on a consistent basis during his time as a Steeler. Although Wilson struggled recently, he played at a high level during his first two months as the starter. The Steelers’ defense has also made things harder for Wilson recently. That was never a real issue for Pickett.
Still, Acho does make a decent point. If the Steelers finish 10-7 and lose in the first round, it will be an extremely disappointing end to the season. It would also be the same ending as their 2023 season, with no improvement in terms of actual playoff results. With that in mind, bringing Russell Wilson back at a high price tag could be difficult. The next few weeks will be influential towards Pittsburgh’s short-term future.
