The Pittsburgh Steelers enter another offseason with a quarterback dilemma. Russell Wilson, Justin Fields and Kyle Allen are set to hit free agency and there is no clear solution to Pittsburgh’s woes at the position. While Wilson was Pittsburgh’s primary starter after returning from a calf injury, he struggled down the stretch, and on Pro Football Talk Live on Wednesday, Mike Florio said he doesn’t see Wilson returning to Pittsburgh.
“I would be shocked, based off some of the stuff I heard, if Russell Wilson was back there,” Florio said. “If he’s back there, it means that Mike Tomlin has a massive blind spot for Russell Wilson.”
Wilson reportedly didn’t have the best relationship with offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, and with him looking for a big bump in pay from the $1.2 million he got from the Steelers last season, the team might be hesitant to dole out a multi-year contract to a 36-year-old quarterback who didn’t look great during the team’s five-game losing streak. While Wilson played well at times in the team’s playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens, he didn’t play well in the first half as the Steelers dug a 21-0 hole that they couldn’t climb out of.
Mike Tomlin said in his end-of-year press conference that he’d be comfortable with Justin Fields as the team’s starter next season, and Fields would be a younger and likely cheaper option than bringing back Wilson. Florio said yesterday that he thinks Tomlin has a blind spot for Wilson, and if he does return, that very well may be true given the report about Wilson’s relationship with Smith and his general downturn in play late in the season.
Pittsburgh’s looming quarterback decision will be its biggest of the offseason, and there’s also still the chance the Steelers could go outside the organization to find their quarterback for next season. Whoever Pittsburgh commits to might not be a long-term solution, but of the available options, Fields is the best bet to become somebody the Steelers can rely on beyond next season.
Given that the Steelers don’t negotiate contracts in-season and Wilson was on a one-year deal, the team likely hasn’t had extensive talks with Wilson (or Fields, for that matter) on what they want in a contract, but it’s hard to see the Steelers bringing Wilson back for anything more than $25 million per year. It looked as if he could get a richer deal earlier this season, but given his struggles down the stretch, it’s tough to fathom anyone paying him more than that. Given that the Steelers have a fallback option in Fields they can use as leverage, it doesn’t seem as if Wilson will reach the $30 million mark that was floated for much of the season.
If he does come back, Wilson is going to need to play better and more like the quarterback he looked like from Weeks 7-14. But if the Steelers don’t think he’s going to be able to lead them to a playoff win, he won’t be back, but if Tomlin really likes Russell Wilson, the door for his return is ajar.
