Russell Wilson joining the Steelers is a negative sign for Kenny Pickett.
Pittsburgh — During the 2024 NFL combine, Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan spoke to a small group of media on the second floor of an Indianapolis hotel and showed “full faith” in quarterback Kenny Pickett.
Ten days later, just before midnight, Russell Wilson posted a video montage of Steelers fans waving Terrible Towels to Styx’s “Renegade” and tagged the Steelers on social media, confirming what league sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Sunday night: the Super Bowl-winning quarterback and nine-time Pro Bowler will soon sign with the Steelers on a one-year, team-friendly contract.
In a move that defies the Steelers’ traditional team-building methods and seemingly spurns a foundational tenet of loyalty, Khan’s actions Sunday night spoke louder than his words from less than two weeks ago.
Steelers brass said repeatedly that it wanted competition for the team’s 2022 first-round pick, but a Super Bowl-winning quarterback — even past his prime — is more than just a camp arm to push Pickett. Pickett, of course, is still under contract, but the competition to retain the starting job just got that much tougher — and it might not be a competition at all.
In signing 35-year-old Wilson, the Steelers are telegraphing their evaluation of Pickett, suggesting he’s on much more tenuous footing than publicly expressed. The move also points to another internal belief: the Steelers are in a win-now mode and believe they’re a quarterback away from erasing a drought of playoff wins that extends all the way back to 2016.
Wilson believes the move makes great sense. Wilson has a clear path to a starting job in Pittsburgh, where the team has a rich, winning pedigree and a well-established system led by a potential Hall of Fame coach. Wilson’s skill set and the habits of new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith appear to be a perfect match.
Wilson had a QBR of 80 in his final season in Denver when he used play action, compared to 40 when he didn’t. He threw 11 touchdowns and one interception on play action, averaging 7.4 yards per attempt. Without play action, Wilson threw 15 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, averaging 6.7 yards per attempt.
During his three-year tenure in Atlanta, Smith’s offenses used play action at the second-highest rate (32%). And in Tennessee, Smith employed a similar philosophy, building a balanced offense thanks to a formidable ground game anchored by Derrick Henry and complementary passing game.
Though maligned for his decision-making and struggles in his first season in Denver, Wilson showed a dramatic improvement in his second season prior to his release. Wilson improved from throwing 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2022 to 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2023. The Steelers haven’t had a quarterback throw 26 touchdowns in a season since Ben Roethlisberger threw 33 in 2020.
For all his improvements in 2023, Wilson still had some trouble by holding on to the ball for too long. His average time to throw (3.06 seconds) was second longest in the league, ahead of only Justin Fields, and last season, the Steelers struggled in pass protection, ranking 17th in pass block win rate. That means adding another first-round offensive tackle to pair with 2023 first-round pick Broderick Jones is that much more important in April’s draft.
Russell Wilson to sign a free agent contract with the Steelers.
Russell Wilson, a nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback and one-time Super Bowl champion, expects to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to league sources.
Wilson will agree to a one-year contract that is beneficial to the team. The Denver Broncos, who informed him last week that he would be dismissed, will end up paying $38 million of his contract while he wears the black and yellow.
In a social media post Sunday night, Wilson wrote: “Year 13. Grateful.” There was an accompanying film of the Steelers and their fans.
With permission from the Broncos because he is still under contract until the start of the new league year on Wednesday, Wilson visited with Steelers officials in Pittsburgh for over six hours on Friday. He met with, among others, coach Mike Tomlin and new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. The two sides had a mutual interest that led to the deal.
Wilson now heads to Pittsburgh with Kenny Pickett, the Steelers’ 2022 first-round pick, being the only quarterback currently under contract to the team. Mason Rudolph is entering free agency after starting three games for Pittsburgh last season.
Wilson, 35, was told last week he would be released Wednesday, ending a tumultuous two-season run in which Denver went 11-19 in his starts and failed to make the playoffs. He was benched with two games remaining in the 2023 season, ending the campaign with 3,070 passing yards to go with 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
The Broncos signed Wilson to a five-year, $242.6 million deal after his arrival in a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Seahawks in 2022. Denver will take on an $85 million hit in dead money on its salary cap over the next two seasons because of the release.
Wilson spent 10 seasons in Seattle, making nine Pro Bowls and winning a Super Bowl in 2014. A third-round pick of the Seahawks in 2012, he has thrown for 43,653 yards and 334 touchdowns with 106 interceptions.
Wilson was asked about his future during an appearance on the “I Am Athlete” podcast with former Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall last month and said winning is his highest priority.
“Over the next two years, I want to win two [Super Bowls], I want to feel the chill of that trophy again,” he told Marshall. “I love the city [of Denver] and everything else, but you also want to be [in] a place that wants you too. The thing I want to do is to win; that’s all I care about.”
Wilson has won against the Steelers during his career. In two starts against Tomlin and Pittsburgh, Wilson is 2-0 with eight touchdown passes, no interceptions and a 147.1 passer rating.
The Steelers’ 2024 schedule includes a game in Denver against the Broncos that now could feature Wilson’s return.
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