After making a blockbuster trade to acquire Russell Wilson’s former teammate DK Metcalf, it might make some sense for the Pittsburgh Steelers to run it back with Wilson at quarterback, right? Apparently, they have other plans as Wilson is expected to be out of the running for the job in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steelers insider Gerry Dulac appeared on 102.5 WDVE’s Morning Show with Randy Baumann this morning and offered an update on the Steelers’ developing QB situation.
“I think [it’s] safe to say that you can count Russell Wilson out,” Dulac said. “I was told last night that, and I tweeted that, the Metcalf move had nothing to do with Russell Wilson. So that was not made to try and reunite him with Russell Wilson.”
Dulac indeed shot down any notion of the Steelers reuniting Metcalf and Wilson last night. If Wilson is out, that leaves just a few viable options. Justin Fields remains in play, though he is set to test free agency. Next up would be either Aaron Rodgers or Sam Darnold, and I suppose you can throw Daniel Jones in the mix as a lower-level option.
If Fields wants to test the market, that tells me he isn’t sold on returning to the Steelers. Unfortunately, the Steelers can’t wait around for him to make his decision while the rest of the QB market sorts itself out. They may be forced into one of the other veteran options.
“Let’s take it one by one,” Dulac said of the possible QB options. “Aaron Rodgers, to me, what that tells me is if he would be the guy, then that tells me quarterback is in play more in the draft than we think because you would be bringing him in for one year and be the bridge guy because you’re gonna draft somebody.
“Sam Darnold, to me, I don’t mind it, but I wouldn’t sit there and give him a big contract. He had one good year, and he had three good receivers and a running back to throw to.”
When it comes to Darnold, I don’t think there is an option to not give him a big contract. If you want him, it’s going to be expensive. He threw for 4,319 yards and 35 TDs last year in his first Pro Bowl appearance. He also received some MVP votes after leading his team to a 14-3 regular-season record. He melted down over the final couple games of the year, including the playoffs, so that could be a concern for the Steelers, who just experienced similar last year.
Former NFL agent Joel Corry estimated his contract to be a three-year, $127.5 million deal with incentives to push that even higher. That would be $42.5 million per season or more.
Either way, the options appear to be narrowing at the 11th hour. In just a couple hours from now, the legal tampering period will begin, and the QB carousel will start spinning rather rapidly.
