Pittsburgh Steelers to sign QB Russell Wilson

In case you missed it late Sunday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers will sign 9x Pro Bowler, 1x Super Bowl Champion, QB Russell Wilson to a 1yr/1.2M contract.

Wilson, who recently got released by the Denver Broncos after signing a 5-year/242M contract in 2022 is now headed to Pittsburgh. In 2023, Wilson passed for 3,070 yards, 26 TD’s, 8 INT’s, & 104.4 QBR. To put that in reference, outside of rushing, the 2023 MVP Lamar Jackson passed for 3,678 yards, 24 TDs, 7 INTs, and had a QBR of 102.7. Now, I am not saying by any means that Wilson is better than Jackson, however, a good amount of his stats replicate close to Jackson’s.

Now what does that mean for former first-round pick Kenny Pickett? I believe that the Steelers will continue to mention that this will be a competition going into the upcoming season, however, don’t be fooled. Wilson did not sign with the Steelers to ride the bench after passing up opportunities with the Giants and Raiders. In 2023, Pickett played 12 games where he threw for 2,070 yards, just 6 TD’s and 4 INT’s. Long story short, Pickett is on the outside looking in when it comes to obtaining the starting quarterback role.

What we haven’t talked about yet is how great of a deal this is.

The Steelers went into the off-season with serious cap issues. After releasing an abundant number of players who played valuable time in 2023, the Steelers improved their salary cap. The one main question was how much that cap would go towards a starting QB. With Wilson signing for $1.2M, it turned out to be a great move. You get a starting-caliber quarterback for practically nothing when it comes to usual quarterback signings. For instance, former Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky signed to be the backup for the Bills for double the amount we will be paying for Wilson. Now fans are not thrilled to have received Wilson, however, the Steelers still made the playoffs last year where we saw a trio of quarterbacks start games in Pickett, Rudolph, and Trubisky. In 2023, the Steelers QB room threw for 3,421 yards, 13 TD’s, and 11 INT’s. If they receive similar production from 2023 Wilson in 2024, the Steelers will drastically improve offensively. The biggest problem Wilson was experiencing in Denver was not living up to that horrible contract Denver offered him. In 2024, Wilson will get a fresh start with Pittsburgh which can mentally help his game.

Overall, I truly do love this signing. This allows Omar Khan to spend the rest of his salary cap on other impactful players that the Steelers need while knowing you have a potential Hall of fame veteran QB in Wilson. If Wilson plays like he has in his past outside of 2022’s horrendous season, the Steelers will improve roughly 1-2 wins off their 2023 record while putting them in the playoffs in 2024. Although this move doesn’t put them into the “Super Bowl” picture, it at least gives us a way better chance to make a run and win a few playoff games as early as 2024.