Steelers Signing Russell Wilson Was "So, So Stupid”; Mike Tomlin Got Distracted By The Stars In His Eyes

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Russell Wilson came to an agreement that brings the former Super Bowl-winning quarterback to the Steel City for at least one year. The two met for about six hours recently and apparently they liked what each other had to say quite a bit. On top of the meeting going well, there were Steelers staff pushing for Wilson behind the scenes. Wilson broke the news on social media by dropping a tweet commenting that he feels blessed to be headed into his 13th season. 

As soon as Wilson was rumored to be a quarterback the Steelers were considering, the varied opinions began to roll in. Some feel that this is a no-risk situation. The Steelers are paying Wilson less than they are paying Kenny Pickett who is still on a rookie contract. There were those who said that Wilson was "cancerous" in the locker room with his prior teams, the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos. They said that at 35, he is too old, and his stats show that he is not the player he once was. One of those negative opinions came from longtime Pittsburgh sports reporter Dejan Kovacevic, during his Daily Shot of Steelers, who's not buying that Wilson will actually compete with Pickett for the starting job. In fact, Kovacevic believes that Head Coach Mike Tomlin might have been a little star struck. 

"Come on, picture yourself as a fly on the wall in that room where Wilson spent six hours meeting with Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith. Picture Tomlin specifically, sitting across from Wilson, getting all starry eyed. You've seen that in his behavior, I'm not sharing with you anything that you don't already know, he gets that way. That's part of what's fun about him because he's a football lover. He was a little bit, 'Gosh wowed,' here's Russ, nine-time Pro Bowler, Super Bowl Champion, a guy that you would think is heading to Canton and he's begging for work."

Kovacevic said that he doesn't even feel that this is about Wilson as a person, that's too subjective. In his opinion, this is about stats entirely. He brought up comments that were made by former Denver guard Mark Schlereth on The Pat McAfee Show. At the time, there were just rumors that Wilson and the Steelers were going to talk. Schlereth pulled no punches on how he felt about Wilson's play, calling it "garbage." Kovacevic went on to echo many of those thoughts in his podcast. 

"Mark Schlereth, ESPN analyst, been around forever, former Denver player, described Wilson's season in Denver as garbage. He fears throwing to the middle of the field, how he's picking up all kinds of cheap yards and elevating himself and his own health above the play that's been called and all kinds of other really intensive football specifics."

He feels confident that the move to bring Wilson in absolutely ends any possibility of a quarterback competition. To Kovacevic, that might have been different if they brought in someone like Ryan Tannehill who could be a third string guy that helps Pickett grow, and knows Smith's system, but not with Wilson. He believes Wilson will expect and demand to be the starter. 

Interestingly enough, just last week, former Steelers safety turned analyst, Ryan Clark said almost the exact opposite. In his mind, the team bringing in a veteran to compete is just checking a box so the Steelers can say they tried everything and Pickett was the best option. 

Can Steelers’ Kenny Pickett Compete With Russell Wilson?

Wilson is clearly joining the team on a kind of "prove it" deal despite his agent hoping to lock up some kind of massive multi-year deal. While the word might be that Wilson and Pickett will compete, it is hard to imagine Pickett outplaying Wilson. 

During his time in Denver, it seemed like Wilson was done wrong by Head Coach Sean Payton. Payton and Wilson had a falling out and with Payton in charge of the offense, he didn't seem to be making calls that were in favor of Wilson. Regardless, Wilson still outperformed Pickett by a lot. In the 15 games that Wilson played last season, he had 26 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. Pickett, in 25 games total, has only 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. 

While it is easy for fans to say that this is a win-win situation since they are paying Wilson just over $1 million, you don't add players to your team just because they are cheap. Tomlin, Smith and General Manager Omar Khan must feel that Wilson brings serious added value to the offense. This deal certainly adds to the "Khan Artist" persona that was born during free agency in 2023. When Khan first took over for Kevin Colbert, many felt that he would just be more of the same, but deals like this one with Wilson make it seem like he is a bit more of a risk taker, which feels like a refreshing change. 

What do you think about the Wilson signing? Do you agree with Kovacevic that it is "so, so stupid" or do you think that it is a win-win proposition? Click to comment below. 

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