The Pittsburgh Steelers have officially missed out on their chance to re-sign quarterback Russell Wilson, as he recently signed a contract to play for the New York Giants in 2025. The veteran played for the veteran minimum in Pittsburgh, as he was getting paid a lot of money by the Denver Broncos, who outright cut him after a disastrous tenure there. He seemingly repaired his reputation early in his stint with the Steelers, but a catastrophic end to the season hurt his stock once again, as he takes yet another lower end deal for a quarterback to try and maintain his starter role elsewhere.
Insider Mark Kaboly thinks however, that there is more to how Wilson's time in Pittsburgh ended than what meets the eye, as everything may not have been his fault.
To Wilson's credit, he was not the main culprit of the Steelers' five-game losing streak to end the 2024 season, even if he didn't do much to help. He did have that one disastrous game against the Baltimore Ravens in the regular season where his two turnovers essentially cost them the game, but outside of that, the defense takes most of the blame.
The Steelers' supposedly elite defensive unit crumbled in the second half of 2024, but Wilson and the offense were able to bail them out a few times. Eventually, reality set in, and the offensive attack could not make up for the defense getting trampled on nearly every drive to end the year.
The Steelers had a top tier defense in the first half of the season, but there was a massive drop-off in production from both a player and a team standpoint starting in Week 10. Their failure to get off the field led to the offense only getting two drives in a half against the Philadelphia Eagles while also allowing almost 300 rushing yards in their Wild Card loss to the Ravens.
TJ Watt, the heart and soul of the Steelers, had two sacks total over the final six games of the year, including the playoff loss. When he is not producing, the entire defense crumbles behind him, and opposing offenses figured out how to slow him down. He went from the favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year, to not even being in the top three for voting.
Steelers Coaches Could Be The Ones Scapegoating Wilson
Wilson and Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith clearly were not on the same page as the season came to a conclusion, as there was a whole "he said / she said" battle via sources on who was leaking information to hurt the other's reputation. If Wilson's camp is right, then that would explain why Smith would use the veteran passer as a scapegoat.
Head Coach Mike Tomlin may also have his reasons for using Wilson as a scapegoat. For starters, the two also reportedly did not see eye-to-eye as the year went on. Of course, the team will side with their longtime head coach over a quarterback with an expiring contract, so whatever issues they had pushed Wilson out the door.
Tomlin has been allegedly telling lies and sticking to a seemingly outdated scheme, as opposed to adapting. Whether Wilson was the right man to lead the Steelers in 2025 or not, many view the team did him dirty by throwing him under the bus. He did not play particularly well down the stretch, but he was far from the main problem with the team. There are many things wrong with the organization as a whole that go beyond the play of the quarterback.
