The Pittsburgh Steelers need to find a quarterback for the 2025 season. One of those candidates is Russell Wilson. Wilson played in 12 games for Pittsburgh in 2024 and had both good moments and bad ones. With the 13th-year veteran set to become a free agent once the new league year begins, the Steelers are faced with a difficult decision. Given how last year season, it could make sense to move on from Wilson. However, there isn’t much on the free agent market in terms of an upgrade. Still, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio doesn’t think there’s much of a chance Wilson comes back to Pittsburgh.
“I’ll be surprised if Wilson’s back,” Florio said Wednesday via 93.7 The Fan. “I think there’s enough of a sense in the organization, other than [Art] Rooney [II], that Wilson’s shot physically, and it’s time to move forward.”
Part of the reason for the Steelers’ spiral over the last month of the 2024 season was due to some of Wilson’s physical limitations. It makes sense since he’s 36. He still does some things well, but he’s clearly not able to win games on his own anymore. When the running game fell flat and the offensive line struggled to end the year, Wilson couldn’t be as much of a playmaker as Pittsburgh had hoped. Relative to Fields, Wilson had a much tougher escaping the pocket.
However, it seems there are some in the organization who still want to bring Wilson back. At the beginning of the offseason, Steelers owner Art Rooney II spoke about wanting to bring back either Wilson or Justin Fields. Steelers insiders are still speaking of Rooney’s reported preference for Wilson.
Florio thinks Fields remains the best option for Pittsburgh moving forward, though.
“Of the two, Justin Fields is the guy with the higher ceiling,” Florio said.
Fields is about a decade younger than Wilson. He showed improvement in 2024, compared to his previous years with the Chicago Bears. Wilson did look better than his time with the Denver Broncos, but it’s clear that no part of his game is going to improve much at this point in his career. There is also speculation that Arthur Smith may prefer to further develop Fields, another sign pointing to him coming back.
The idea of bringing back Fields or Wilson presents a bigger decision than just quarterback. Where do the Steelers want to go right now? If you want to win now, Wilson makes more sense if the Steelers can add the right pieces around him. However, if you want to retool the roster, Fields makes more sense as a player worth developing. If the Steelers do bring one of these two back, it will also show the direction the front office wants to take the franchise.
