The Pittsburgh Steelers managed to find a cheap solution to their quarterback problem last year. Russell Wilson played for the minimum, and Justin Fields wasn’t getting paid very much either. Unfortunately, the Steelers probably won’t get that lucky again. They’ll probably need to pay a little more for a quarterback this year. Wilson in particular might be looking for a big payday. Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wouldn’t blame him for that, but he does reveal that the Steelers aren’t handing Wilson a blank check.
“Russell Wilson’s made a lot of money in this league,” Fittipaldo said Thursday on radio station 93.7 The Fan. “He may not wanna play for $15 million a season. He might just say, ‘Hey, Ciara, let’s go enjoy retirement in San Diego. How could you begrudge a guy if he truly doesn’t wanna play for a certain amount of money? I do know the Steelers aren’t gonna go above a certain number. I don’t think it’s gonna be crazy.”
A 13-year veteran and Super Bowl champion, it makes sense that Wilson would try to get one last big contract. However, his play last year didn’t exactly warrant a monster contract. The Steelers have a decent amount of cap space available, but that doesn’t mean they should overspend on Wilson.
Fittipaldo explained what he believes the maximum amount the Steelers would spend on a quarterback is, and also that Wilson might wait to make a deal until Matthew Stafford’s situation is resolved.
“I think it’s probably somewhere in the range of $25 to $30 [million] max. I don’t think they’re gonna go above 30. I think I mentioned this on the morning show yesterday, the unfortunate thing for the Steelers is I don’t think Russ’ agents wanna make a deal until they know what Matthew Stafford’s gonna get paid. So that, like the Najee Harris thing, might force this to drag on a while.”
Paying Wilson $30 million feels like a mistake. While many starting quarterbacks make much more than that, Wilson didn’t look like a high-level starter last year. He looked like he’s lost a step. At 36-years old, there’s a high chance he’ll continue regressing, too.
Having this situation continue to drag on sounds awful, too. It sounds like the Steelers want to get a deal done sooner rather than later. However, if Wilson’s camp is waiting to see what Stafford gets paid, the Steelers might be stuck for longer than they want to be. Stafford reportedly wants $50 million a year. Wilson should not expect to receive that kind of contract.
Stafford looked like he had more left in the tank than Wilson last year as well. Yes, they’re both Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks in their late-30s, but the similarities end there. While Wilson looked washed up in 2024, Stafford showed that he could still elevate an offense.
If Wilson wants to wait, or if he asks for a huge deal, the Steelers might be better off targeting Fields. He’d likely cost less than Wilson, and he gives them familiarity on offense. The Steelers have made it clear they’re going to try to retain one of those quarterbacks. If getting a deal done with Fields is cheaper and easier, then that’s probably the direction they should go.
