If Russell Wilson had retired an hour before he was traded to the Denver Broncos, there’s a good chance he would have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In 10 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, Wilson made nine Pro Bowls, had a Super Bowl ring and another NFC championship. In 2017, he accounted for over 86 percent of the Seahawks’ yards from scrimmage and an astonishing 37 of 38 offensive touchdowns. He had a fantastic, historic run.
That Wilson thing probably isn’t the first thing you think of when his name comes up anymore. It’s probably more about Wilson struggling after a high-profile trade with the Denver Broncos and a bad contract that followed. It could be the record-breaking $53 million cap hit the Broncos took in 2024 to get rid of Wilson. Maybe it’s even a bit about how Wilson didn’t look good in his first preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, leading to some debate over whether Justin Fields should start at quarterback for Pittsburgh.
Wilson will start at quarterback for the Steelers, coach Mike Tomlin announced Wednesday, giving Wilson one last chance to salvage his reputation and NFL legacy.
Russell Wilson gets another chance
Wilson’s preseason began the way his Broncos career ended. In his first game, he led the Steelers to four punts and a missed field goal. Wilson’s first four preseason drives saw them have 12 net yards and one first down. It wasn’t much different than what we saw from Wilson in Denver.
Wilson was terrible in 2022 under Nathaniel Hackett, then slightly better but still pretty flawed under Sean Payton last season. Hackett was out of sorts, and Payton had no patience for Wilson and apparently never wanted to make the relationship work. There’s an argument to be made that the situation with the Broncos was bad enough that Wilson could at least look like a passable carbon copy of what he was in Seattle in a new environment. The Steelers are a rock-solid franchise and provided that opportunity.
Wilson completed both passes in the final preseason game, and that was enough for Tomlin to move forward with his plan to make Wilson his starter. The situation is still not ideal. Aside from George Pickens, the Steelers are very thin at receiver. New coordinator Arthur Smith will want to run the ball most of the time. It will be difficult for Wilson to put together a strong statistical season.
But he has a chance. And he needs to take it, because if he fails, there may not be much interest in his services next off-season at the age of 37.
Can Wilson have a strong season?
Wilson probably can’t afford a slow start. The Wilson-Fields decision seemed legitimate late in the preseason, after an offseason in which the Steelers said Wilson was their likely QB1. Wilson’s calf injury early in training camp and poor preseason debut cast that into doubt.
Fields has his own issues, notably holding the ball in the pocket too long and being inaccurate when he throws, but he also has the ability to make plays. Wilson used to have that with his legs, but it’s not part of his game anymore in his mid-30s. If Wilson fails, he probably won’t have much job security. The Steelers have only a one-year, $1.2 million contract invested in him.
Wilson is under a lot of pressure to perform well in September. If he can do that, he could keep his job for the entire season and possibly help the Steelers get back to the playoffs. Even if he doesn’t put up phenomenal numbers this season, a solid season with Pittsburgh that gets back to a winning streak would help erase the stench of his two seasons in Denver. It could help fuel the idea that a player who was one of the NFL’s best in Seattle was simply in an unwinnable situation the past two seasons.
Tomlin gives Wilson a chance to turn the tide, and how he performs this season will largely determine how his career will be remembered.
