After the Pittsburgh Steelers were bounced from the Wild Card Round of the playoffs with a 28-14 loss against the Baltimore Ravens, Steelers QB Russell Wilson said that the plan for him is to return to the Steelers in 2025. While Wilson is a pending free agent, he confirmed during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show today that he wants to stay in Pittsburgh.
“Going into Pittsburgh was a special place for me. I love it, and hopefully I can play there a lot longer. It’s a special place because of the guys in the locker room and the traditions and the people and the winning, plus you got Mike Tomlin, who’s arguably the best coach of all-time, one of the top ones,” Wilson said.
While Wilson might want to come back, the Steelers are going to weigh whether bringing him back is best for the future of the franchise. Wilson is 36 years old and didn’t play his best football down the stretch, with the Steelers losing their final five games and not taking a lead or scoring more than 17 points during that losing streak.
Wilson could get a contract worth over $30 million annually, and with the Steelers also potentially looking to bring back QB Justin Fields, the team could opt to sign Fields over Wilson given that Fields is younger and played pretty well in the six games he started for the Steelers. Despite the late-season struggles, Wilson told McAfee that he’s got more football left in him.
“I got so much more in me, man. I’m excited, obviously, my goal is to be with the Pittsburgh Steelers a long time and hopefully finish my career there,” he said.
Wilson said that he’s starting to “talk a little bit” about the future with the Steelers and said he’s had some end-of-year meetings.
If Wilson doesn’t return to Pittsburgh, it’s a legitimate question whether his days as an NFL starting quarterback will be done. There might not be a team out there willing to bring him in as a starter if not for Pittsburgh, and it’ll be interesting to see just how much the Steelers value Wilson. There was reportedly some disconnect between him and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith this season, and while Wilson looked like he had turned a corner from his two seasons in Denver after he first took over as a starter, some of the same issues cropped up late in the season.
He held onto the football too long and took sacks, didn’t look over the middle of the field, and was overly reliant on a deep ball that just didn’t click as much as it did earlier in the year. Pittsburgh’s season ended the same way it did with Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph and Mitch Trubisky starting at quarterback, with a 10-7 record and Wild Card Round exit. So despite Russell Wilson’s intentions to return, it might be out of his control if the Steelers think they’re better off moving on.