Steelers’ Cameron Heyward Was Big Advocate To Get Russell Wilson To Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Steelers had some exciting news break recently, the announcement that the team has signed quarterback Russell Wilson from the Denver Broncos. The news came in the form of a viral, social media video posted by Wilson himself. Wilson recently met with the New York Giants and from there was spotted flying to Pittsburgh. 

Apparently, the meeting went great and now the organization has reached a deal with the former Super Bowl-winning quarterback. According to Tom Pelissero from the NFL Network, there were some folks behind the scenes in the organization who were championing the cause of Wilson to the Black and Gold.  

"Russell Wilson and the Steelers did agree to terms on Sunday night on a one-year contract worth the minimum $1.21 million, for 2024. There were a couple strong advocates for Russell Wilson in Pittsburgh throughout the process. One of them was the veteran defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, who like Russell Wilson is a former Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award winner. Heyward was certainly a strong voice in the locker room, wanting Wilson brought aboard, the other was Head Coach Mike Tomlin, who spent a lot of time with Wilson during a visit to the facility on Friday," said Pelissero on Good Morning Football.

Wilson will come to Pittsburgh and compete for the starting job against Kenny Pickett, who is entering his third year in the league. Pickett has underperformed during his time in Pittsburgh thus far. 

While Wilson has not been a Hall of Fame level quarterback during his past two years while in Denver, he has still outperformed Pickett. During the 15 starts Wilson had in 2023, he threw for 26 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. In Pickett's 25 games overall, he’s thrown for 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Wilson threw more touchdowns in 2023 than all three Steelers quarterbacks did in the past two seasons. 

Steelers Bringing Wilson On Board Makes Financial Sense

Pelissero also points out that there is almost zero financial risk for the Steelers as the Broncos are paying the bill for Wilson. He said that money almost doesn't matter, Wilson is due $39 million from the Broncos.

This in spite of the fact that his agent called around the league hoping to find a multi-year situation for Wilson where a team would agree to extend the contract to include a massive player option for 2025, where Wilson could lock in future guarantees. No one took them up on that offer so it leaves Wilson in a bit of a "prove it" situation with Pittsburgh. The deal for the Steelers is a win-win, with the writing on the wall for Pickett, they have shown they are willing to take action to improve. 

What do you think about the Wilson signing? Are you surprised no one wanted to give him a multi-year deal? Are you surprised Heyward was an advocate to bring him him to the team? Click to comment below. 

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