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Heading into the 2024 NFL offseason, it seems like Russell Wilson is going to have some options to choose from when it comes to where he’ll play next season. One of those options is the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Denver Broncos benched Wilson for the last two weeks of the 2023 season, seemingly signaling the end of his time with the team. Meanwhile, the Steelers were one of the many teams in the league who didn’t have things play out the way they expected at QB during the season.
That could make the two a good match for each other.
Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine argued that the Steelers are actually the best landing spot for the former All-Pro QB — they’d give Wilson the starting opportunity he needs at this point in his career, while he would fit what Pittsburgh needs at QB to change their offense in 2024.
Steelers’ 2024 QB Plans Still Unclear
While it is very clear that the Steelers had a quarterback problem during the 2023 season, it isn’t really clear how they’re going to fix it.
But there are going to be options out there to acquire a new QB.
Kirk Cousins will be a free agent. Baker Mayfield will be a free agent. Wilson could be available either through trade or if he’s released. Justin Fields is also expected to be traded.
With all of those options out there, it would make sense for the team to at least consider trying to upgrade at QB.
However, they might have already decided that’s not how they want to approach the situation.
In his press conference at the end of the 2023 season, head coach Mike Tomlin said that he believes the 2024 starter is already on the roster.
Steelers reporter Mark Madden also predicted on January 22 that not only would the Steelers stick with Kenny Pickett, they would also not re-sign Mason Rudolph to protect the young QB in his third season.
The organization still needs to hire a new offensive coordinator, and the person that ends up filling the position could play a part in determining what’s next at QB.
For right now, though, we’ve been left to guess what the Steelers’ QB depth chart will look like next season.
How Russell Wilson Would Fit in Pittsburgh
Wilson has struggled in his two seasons with the Broncos, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t succeed in Pittsburgh.
During his season-ending press conference, Tomlin said that he wants to see a more dynamic offense next season than the team had in 2023.
While we shouldn’t expect to see the Steelers “let Russ cook,” the former Seahawks QB should still be able to make the offense more dynamic.
The team’s approach with Wilson actually shouldn’t be much different from what it would be with Pickett.
Pittsburgh would still likely make their run game a focus on offense with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren having combined for over 1800 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns in 2023.
The success of the two backs would open up play-action opportunities for Wilson. It was a strategy that worked for Wilson in Seattle.
With a solid defense that the Steelers will likely look to improve during the offseason, the team won’t need Wilson to win shootouts.
They’ll just need him to get the team some kind of consistent scoring. He was able to do that in Denver despite him and Sean Payton seemingly not being a great match.
The Broncos finished 19th in scoring even after Jarrett Stidham brought down their scoring average in the last two games of the year.
The Steelers finished 28th.
If the Steelers decide to pursue Wilson, it still wouldn’t give them a QB that’s on the same level as the stars in their conference, but he’ll give them a more dependable offense that can actually give the team a spark in 2024.
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