Wilson could be worth pursuing
By Dale Lolley
For the Observer-Reporter
The NFL’s legal tampering period begins Monday, with full free agency opening Wednesday when the new league year begins.
News broke a few days ago that the Steelers will meet with quarterback Russell Wilson to kick the tires on the former Super Bowl winner.
It’s the one move in the quarterback musical chairs that will happen this offseason, and it at least makes a little sense.
After acquiring Wilson from Seattle in 2022 for multiple draft picks and players, the Broncos signed him to a 5-year, $242.6-million deal that included $161 million in guarantees.
Two years later, they’re set to release him, despite the fact they’ll owe him $85 million over the next two seasons.
Ouch!
So, Denver will be on the hook for Wilson’s salary the next two seasons, with any salary he gets from his new team offsetting some of that money.
There’s a feeling in NFL circles that Wilson will simply sign a veteran minimum deal because he’s guaranteed to make $40 million from the Broncos no matter what. And he’s certainly not going to do the Broncos, who benched him with a couple of weeks remaining in the regular season in 2023 to avoid more guaranteed money kicking in, any favors by signing a deal that puts his new team on the hook for additional money.
The question will be whether Wilson will want to compete for a starting job in Pittsburgh with Kenny Pickett, because the Steelers have expressed an interest in giving Pickett a chance to start again this season.
For the Steelers, the question will be whether or not Wilson represents a clear upgrade over Pickett in new coordinator Arthur Smith’s offense.
On the surface, it would seem so. But Wilson took 45 sacks in 15 games last season and fumbled 10 times.
So, while his 26 touchdown passes in 15 games are obviously better than the six Pickett threw in 12 games, is that offset by the sacks and fumbles?
And those things aren’t something new for Wilson.
Wilson has been sacked 527 times in 188 career games. There’s a good chance he’ll pass Tom Brady in 2024 for the most sacks in league history with 566. But Brady appeared in 335 games.
Wilson’s 103 career fumbles also lead all active players.
One thing that can’t be said about Pickett is that he is loose with the football.
GM Omar Khan expressed just last week that he wants to see how Pickett performs under the tutelage of Smith.
“I’m excited about the impact Arthur Smith is going to have on him,” Khan said.
Would signing Wilson retard that? Maybe. Maybe not.
But given that the Steelers wouldn’t have to give up draft picks and/or a lot of salary cap space as they would have to do to trade for Justin Fields or sign a veteran such as Kirk Cousins, it’s worth at least looking into signing Wilson.
• The first question the Steelers should ask Wilson is why things didn’t work out in Denver?
The Broncos gave up two first and two second-round draft picks and multiple players to acquire him, only to decide to jettison him and take on the largest amount of dead money in NFL history to allow him to play elsewhere. And they don’t have a plan in place to replace him.
He’ll turn 36 during the 2024 season, so perhaps they just saw a declining player with whom they weren’t going anywhere with their current roster.
• Wilson and his wife, Grammy-award winning performer Ciara, partnered with Acrisure to form Evolution Advisors in 2021. Evolution Advisors focuses on the insurance needs of minority-owned businesses.
Acrisure, obviously, owns the rights to the stadium in which the Steelers play.
Wilson and his wife were introduced to the Acrisure people by Thomas Tull, chairman of Acrisure Technology Group and founder, chairman and CEO of Tulco. Tull also happens to be a minority owner of the Steelers.
Regardless of those connections, any deal between the Steelers and Wilson would have to make sense on the football side of things.
• The Pirates announced last week that pitcher Paul Skenes, the first overall pick in last year’s draft, will open the season in the minors.
While it’s not what fans want, it makes sense from a baseball perspective. As a college pitcher, Skenes pitched once a week at LSU last season. He needs to get into the process of pitching every five days, which is what he’ll be asked to do as a professional.
And doing that at the Major League level might not be what’s best for his long-term development.
Skenes will be in Pittsburgh at some point this season. There’s no reason to rush things.
• File this one under the list of things you didn’t know you wanted to see. It was announced Thursday that 57-year-old Mike Tyson will fight 27-year-old Jake Paul in June in a boxing match that will be shown on Netflix.
Tyson will be the latest over-the-hill or never-was fighter to take on Paul, a Youtube star – if you believe in such things – who fancies himself a boxer.
Here’s hoping Tyson ends that farce.
Dale Lolley hosts The Drive on Steelers Nation Radio and writes a Sunday column for the Observer-Reporter.