Russell Wilson will now be playing on his third team in four seasons, and the QBs NFL career could come to an unceremonious end with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Just think about it; the Denver Broncos would rather pay Wilson nearly $40 million this season to not play for them, and then would rather take on an NFL-record $85 million in dead cap.
People have said that Wilson played well for Denver last year, and I have seen some say that he'll play quite well in 2024 with the Steelers, but if the Denver Broncos went to such extremes to get rid of Wilson, what does that say about his ability now? Sean Payton is one of the best offensive minds of the 21st century, and he tried to make it work with Wilson.
On paper, the QB played well, but if you watched the Broncos offense at all in 2023, you'd have seen that Wilson and the offense were quite inefficient. And with the Steelers situation on offense in 2024, it appears to be not nearly as good as the Broncos in 2023.
Russell Wilson had the benefit of a top-tier offensive mind in Sean Payton, and will now have a fired head coach in Arthur Smith calling the plays. The Broncos offensive line was actually quite strong in 2023. All five players were at the very least average, with guys like Garett Bolles, Lloyd Cushenberry, and Quinn Meinerz among the better players at their position.
But the Steelers OL in 2024 is littered with rookies and unproven players.
And the cherry on top for Russell Wilson in 2024 is Justin Fields. The Steelers traded for Fields, the Chicago Bears former starting QB. Wilson's backup in 2023 was Jarrett Stidham, so it's not like there was a young QB breathing down his heck. And while Justin Fields is bad, the ceiling with Fields is much higher, as he's about a decade younger and has elite rushing ability.
You have to think at the first sign of Wilson struggling, Steelers fans and the NFL world may be calling for them to switch to Justin Fields. It's not a great situation for Wilson. He's been a high-end, dual-threat QB his entire career, but QBs who are best using their legs tend to not age well, and we are right in the middle of the Russell Wilson decline.
He's now in his age-36 season, and if Wilson does end up getting benched for Fields, he'd likely not be re-signed by the Steelers. So in that scenario, Russell Wilson is a free agent for the second-straight offseason, entering his age-37 season, and would have essentially been dumped by three teams over the last four seasons.
That could be the dagger in the heart of his NFL career.