When Russell Wilson first signed with the team last March, it seemed very likely that he would end up signing an extension following the season. That looked like even more of a sure thing at the beginning of December when he was 6-1 as the starter. But a five-game losing streak that included the first-round exit from the playoffs may have sealed his fate with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette insider Gerry Dulac gave the initial report back in March that there was mutual interest between Wilson and the Steelers for an extension. He’s not so sure about that anymore.
“I think the word that was told to me that I always used is the ‘intention’ on both sides to do another deal, but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Dulac said via WDVE’s Morning Show with Randy Baumann.
One of Wilson’s final wins against the Cincinnati Bengals at the beginning of December made it look like the Hall of Fame, Super Bowl-winning version of Wilson was back. He kept up with Joe Burrow in a 44-38 shootout, and most of the NFL world believed the sky was the limit for the 2024 Steelers. Wilson was pacing to have the best numbers of his career in several categories across a full 17-game season.
From that point forward, he went 1-5 with much less impressive numbers. Over the last six games, Wilson had just 1,126 passing yards (187.7 per game) with eight TDs, two INTs, and two lost fumbles. He finished the season on a relatively high note with a strong second half in the playoff loss, but it wasn’t nearly enough. His struggles in the first half were part of the reason they dug such a big hole to begin with.
Mike Tomlin spoke about the quarterback situation in his end-of-season press conference and said they were still going through the process of making decisions on how best to move forward. Notably, he did directly say that they were open to bringing Fields back to be the starter next year and showered him with praise in the process.
Wilson told the media that his plan is to remain in Pittsburgh, but that obviously requires the Steelers wanting him back as the starter.
Dulac has stated his belief that Fields will ultimately be the quarterback that is re-signed. Wilson might make more sense if the Steelers were closer to competing for a Super Bowl, but that didn’t appear to be the case over the final month of the 2024 season. It’s best to move on from a 36-year-old and give Fields a closer look in 2025.
