Russell Wilson and Arthur Smith didn't gel.
The Pittsburgh Steelers looked like one of the contenders in the AFC for much of the season before they fell apart near the end of the year. Mike Tomlin and company were able to win games with both Justin Fields and Russell Wilson at quarterback before the team lost its last five games, including a Wild Card loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Arthur Smith successfully ran two offensive systems this season, one for Fields and one for Wilson. With Fields in the lineup, the Steelers were able to tap into the quarterback run game to get a lot of their offensive production, especially in short yardage situations. That all went out the window with Wilson, but the passing game got more explosive.
Now that the season has ended, reports have surfaced that say that Wilson and Smith may not have had the best working relationship with the Steelers according to Steelers beat writer Mark Kaboly.
“Reports surfaced during the year that offensive coordinator Arthur Smith preferred Fields over Wilson but that was never substantiated,” Kaboly reported on X, formerly Twitter. “Still, despite Wilson and Smith spending countless hours together after the typical workday watching film and publicly joking about it, a team source recently said that Wilson and Smith did not have a very good working relationship but fought through their differences as best they could.”
Wilson's first couple of starts went great for the Steelers, but the passing game grew stale and stalled out over time. In their five-game losing streak to end the season, the Steelers consistently failed to move the ball and put points on the board.
What will Steelers do at quarterback next season?
The Steelers have a dilemma to face at the quarterback spot this offseason. They had been running with both Justin Fields and Russell Wilson on cheap, short-term deals, but they clearly reached the ceiling with that approach this season.
It has become clear that in order to compete in the high-powered AFC, the Steelers need to upgrade at the quarterback position. It will be hard for them to do that through the draft, where they will be picking near the end of the first ground, so it will likely have to happen in free agency.
There will be multiple veteran options available for Pittsburgh in free agency that they can bring in to start next season. Players like Kirk Cousins, Aaron Rodgers and Sam Darnold will all likely be on the open market for the Steelers to pursue.
An option like Darnold would be very intriguing for Pittsburgh. A return to Minnesota feels unlikely for him after his poor performance over the final two games of the season, but he has also clearly shown that he can play at a higher level than both Wilson and Fields at this stage. Adding someone like him to the team for next season can raise this Steelers team's ceiling to the point where it can compete for an AFC North title in 2025.
