Up until early December and the final stretch of the season that saw the Pittsburgh Steelers lose five-straight games including their Wild Card playoff appearance, Russell Wilson seemed to be the short and maybe even intermediate-term plan for the Steelers at quarterback moving forward. While it is now unclear if Wilson will be on the roster in 2025, it was just a couple months ago that the Steelers were reportedly considering a rarely-used contract tender to retain his services.
“Until the tailspin at the end of the season, I very much could have seen him making somewhere between $30 and $40 million per season and maybe a multi-year type contract,” The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo said via 93.7 The Fan’s Evening Show. “…I heard some rumblings that I think they were even intrigued or exploring the possibility of the transition tag which would’ve carried a cap hit of about $35 million.”
If you are unfamiliar with the transition tag, that’s because it is rarely used in today’s NFL. While the franchise tag takes into account the top five salaries at a player’s position, the transition tag figures in the top 10. It is therefore cheaper, but also non exclusive. Other teams can offer higher contracts, and the team that applies the tag would have the opportunity to match the offer sheet. If they do not, they receive no compensation for the player leaving. That includes the compensatory free agent formula, which introduces some risk with this type of tag.
The last time the Steelers used the transition tag was on OLB Jason Worilds in 2014. They also placed it on OT Max Starks in 2008.
It has become much less common in today’s NFL, but perhaps it could have made sense for Wilson. If the Steelers determined they wanted Wilson to help them remain competitive in 2025, but they weren’t sold on giving him a long-term deal, then the transition tag could have made some sense. Was somebody really going to sign Wilson above the projected $35,267,000 figure?
It would have made things more difficult to negotiate a long-term deal with Wilson if that is what they were after. He would have had zero incentive to sign a deal that would pay him less than that in base salary and signing bonus. The Steelers’ hands would have been tied based on the transition tag figures if their goal was a long-term deal.
Of course none of this really matters anymore because the Steelers went on to lose five games in a row.
“…The person that I talked to that told me that they were considering that also said, ‘Well, winning a couple games would help.’ Well, he proceeded to lose the next five,” DeFabo said.
Based on the implied timeline in that quote, this was mentioned roughly around the time the Steelers would have just won 44-28 against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. At that point, Wilson’s 17-game pace was right up there with some of the best seasons in his borderline Hall of Fame career.
Justin Fields might be the better option at this point, and Wilson certainly won’t be getting $35 million per season from the Steelers if they do work something out with him. ESPN’s Dan Graziano recently predicted a two-year, $50 million contract for Wilson.
