Russell Wilson Is Auditioning To Be the Medium-Term Answer
Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Mike Tomlin has all but confirmed Russell Wilson will be the 2024 Week 1 starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Even after trading for Justin Fields, Tomlin hasn’t backed off that Wilson will be given the reins. Still, a sizable part of the fan base believes that the team would be better off if Fields was given a fair shot to win the job, as he potentially would be the Steelers starter for the next decade. Fields is young with a ton of upside that wasn’t properly tapped into while he was the starter in Chicago.
But as it currently sits, Wilson will be the guy. At 36, does he have a future with the Steelers? If he plays well, he just might. What exactly would it take for Wilson to be the medium-term answer for the Steelers? Let’s take a deep dive and find out.
First, he will need to shake off last season’s inconsistencies. The Denver Broncos started the season losing five of their first six games, nearly all of them seeing Wilson playing pedestrian football. Even a Week 3 performance that looked decent on paper was the clear definition of an empty-stat game, throwing for 306 yards and a touchdown in a 70-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins.
The nine-time Pro Bowler played mistake-free football following that 1-5 start, bringing the Broncos to .500 and within the playoff hunt with five straight victories. Then came a disastrous three-interception Week 13 showing versus the Houston Texans, effectively dooming Wilson’s playoff bid.
You’d never know that he struggled so much by looking at his very decent overall numbers. It’s not hard to talk yourself into a quarterback who threw 26 touchdowns to 8 interceptions for 3,070 yards and completed 66.4% of his passes. Remember, all this happened while head coach Sean Payton made it clear he was not a Wilson fan almost from the day he got the job.
To keep the job in Pittsburgh, it’s not going to be enough for Wilson to put up numbers that don’t translate to wins. The Black and Gold will have to win a playoff game with Wilson at the helm for him to get the gig beyond this season. Tomlin’s job may depend on whether he can get a playoff win this season, and since Wilson is Tomlin’s guy, Wilson’s future in Pittsburgh may also. Obviously, context matters in this case. Maybe Wilson can ball out with the game of his life in a valiant loss, and the Steelers could decide to build on that. But most likely, it’s a playoff win or bust.
Now if Wilson does stay in town, what does his next contract look like? He is 36 years old, but he hasn’t fallen victim to any serious injuries to date, starting 188 of a possible 195 games in his career. With the way today’s rules protect quarterbacks, Wilson could join players like Tom Brady and Drew Brees in playing until he’s 40. So a three-year commitment could make sense if Wilson can bounce back in Pittsburgh.
The dollar amount is a different situation. In no way would or should the Steelers pay the Super Bowl XLVIII Champ a salary bump from his current $1.21 million cap hit to the neighborhood of $40 million a season. Sure, maybe that’s the market for a quarterback like Wilson (or at least, the best-case scenario of Wilson) in a Post-Kirk Cousins world, but that doesn’t make it right. Wilson will need the roster at maximum strength for him to succeed. An outrageous contract won’t allow for that – just ask the Minnesota Vikings (or Atlanta Falcons after next season).
But before we talk about contract terms, first things first: Wilson needs to win and keep the job. Tomlin might be staking his future on this experiment working, and if it does, it’ll be easy for him to let it ride on Wilson for the foreseeable future. If not, Pittsburgh might be back to the drawing board when it comes to a quarterback, and Wilson might be out of chances to prove he’s a starting quarterback in the NFL.
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