Nobody should be on board with what the Steelers might do at QB.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are stuck between a rock and a hard place at the quarterback position. When the NFL's negotiation period opened up, the Seattle Seahawks drew first blood by coming to contract terms with Sam Darnold. This was quickly followed by the New York Jets poaching Justin Fields from the Steelers.
Now Aaron Rodgers is the best remaining quarterback on the market, but he's having second thoughts. Ian Rapoport appeared on The Pat McAfee show to explain that Rodgers is taking his time to decide his next destination—a decision that appears to be down to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets.
Unfortunately, the Steelers may not have the patience to let Rodgers make the call.
On Tuesday, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette posted about Russell Wilson potentially returning to the Steelers if contract negotiations with Rodgers stall.
"It’s possible Russell Wilson could return to the Steelers if ongoing discussions with Aaron Rodgers fail to result in a financial agreement, per multiple sources," Dulac posted on X.
This isn't the news anyone wanted to hear.
The Pittsburgh Steelers could be forced to run it back with free-agent quarterback Russell Wilson
Aaron Rodgers is far from perfect. Not only did he come with his annoying personality quirks and frequent appearances on The Pat McAfee Show, but he also failed to bring success to the New York Jets—leading his team to a dismal 5-12 record in 2024.
Still, Rodgers is the lesser of two evils, and returning to Russell Wilson is an option that should not be in the cards for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024.
With Rodgers, there's hope that one of the greatest quarterbacks ever could turn things around on a better organization another year removed from a season-ending Achilles injury. After all, he can still sling the ball at 41 years old.
But with Wilson, we've already seen this script play out in real life... and the results are not good. Mike Tomlin handed Wilson the keys to the franchise in Week 7 of the 2024 season when he benched Justin Fields. Though it appeared he made the right choice at first, Wilson crumbled down the stretch when facing good competition. He went 0-5 to close the season while managing just 14 points per game.
We've now witnessed four straight underwhelming seasons from Wilson (one in Seattle, two in Denver, and one in Pittsburgh). In 2024, the 36-year-old struggled to throw the ball over the middle of the field, and his overall pedestrian performance was bailed out by the occasional moonball down the sideline.
But if Russell Wilson wasn't good enough in 2024, what makes the Steelers believe he will be good enough this year?
Sure, there's some intrigue to reuniting Wilson with former teammate DK Metcalf, but nearly enough to pull the trigger on a contract. Wilson will only do enough to keep Mike Tomlin's head above water with another 9-10 win season. Nothing more. We've reached last-resort territory, and Steelers fans should be praying this team goes in a different direction at quarterback.
