Earlier in the season, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that veteran quarterback Russell Wilson was expected to re-sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers, something that the longtime NFL insider seemed to back as a smart move.
Now, coming off a disastrous end to the season in which the Black and Gold failed to score more than 17 points during a five-game losing streak, Russini seems to be singing a bit of a different tune when it comes to the Steelers’ QB situation.
On the latest episode of the “Scoop City” podcast with co-host Chase Daniel, Russini gave no indication that her previous report about Wilson staying in Pittsburgh was changing, but her opinion on the entire quarterback situation in Pittsburgh certainly did.
Russini criticized the poor play the Steelers got from the QB position down the stretch and stated that they have to figure out how to find a franchise quarterback — and fast — for Mike Tomlin’s sake.
“That’s exactly their issue. And if you’re Mike Tomlin here, seated in the owner’s office this week discussing the future of this franchise, how are you not just saying, ‘I need a quarterback. Whatever we just did, we tried,’ and I give them points for this, they we’re trying to be creative, taking a chance on two talented quarterbacks in Justin Fields and Russell Wilson,” Russini said, according to video via the show’s podcast page. “But the bad quarterback play is holding this team back even though they tried, and they showed some signs of that.
“And that’s a [reflection] of Mike Tomlin’s greatness, is that they were able to squeeze as much as they were able to. So, I’m with you. I think they need to sort of figure out what is next.”
It seems pretty obvious based on the way the season ended that the Steelers need to figure out their QB situation. After throwing for 414 yards in the Dec. 1 win on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals, Wilson and the Steelers’ offense fell off a cliff.
Though Wilson played relatively well in the Wild Card loss to the Baltimore Ravens, throwing for 270 yards and two touchdowns, both of which came in the second half with the game all but out of reach, his play down the stretch matched the team as a whole: not good enough.
While Wilson expressed his desire to be back in Pittsburgh in 2025 during locker room clean-out Monday, something he has expressed time and time again, the Steelers have a decision to make: run it back with Wilson and potentially Justin Fields and maybe get the same results, or try and go in a different direction and continue to search for a true answer at the most important position in sports.
