A new report on Russell Wilson’s market in free agency is worrisome for the Pittsburgh Steelers before the 2024 season. The Steelers signed Wilson as their quarterback for the 2024 season.
The Steelers made a bold choice to trade away Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles. With Pickett in Philadelphia, the Steelers traded the Chicago Bears a conditional sixth-round for Justin Fields. Fields will be Wilson’s backup in the upcoming season.
Wilson could have easily been a backup on another team. Per Jeff Howe with The Athletic, the New York Giants didn’t value Wilson as highly as the Steelers did this offseason. Giants head coach Brian Daboll thought Wilson would fit in as a backup with New York:
There’s a pattern here, too. The Giants had an exploratory meeting last week with Russell Wilson, and the team didn’t make any promises about playing time, according to league sources. That’s been the Giants’ approach as they’ve built toward the 2024 season with Jones as the expected starter.
Wilson wasn’t initially given the Pittsburgh Steelers QB1 job
Per Albert Breer with Sports Illustrated, the Steelers initially thought Wilson would have to compete for the starting job when they signed him last week.
On Saturday night before the legal tampering period kicked off, Tomlin told Pickett that he wasn’t sure if the team would land Wilson, but if it happened, there’d be an open competition for the job. Pickett said he was fine with that. Wilson agreed to terms Sunday. On Monday, Tomlin told Pickett that Wilson would work from pole position to start, and get the first reps at the beginning of OTAs, with Pickett competing from there.
Wilson hadn’t been given any assurance to be the starter (or really much of anything else). But you can see how Pickett’s first two years as a pro affected how he saw what Tomlin was telling him. His guard was up. He felt misled, based on conversations less than 48 hours apart from each other. Which is why he ended up asking for a trade. You can assign blame on that to whoever you want.
