© Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports
Insider Doesn't 'Get' What Steelers are Planning for QB Russell Wilson
Not everyone around the NFL buys what the Pittsburgh Steelers are selling relative to Russell Wilson.
The public and messy breakup between the Denver Broncos and Russell Wilson extended through the tail end of the regular season until the quarterback’s release in March. Sean Payton’s team opted to absorb an $85 million dead-cap hit in the divorce.
The Pittsburgh Steelers signed the 35-year-old Wilson to a one-year, $1.2 million veteran minimum contract since the Broncos are picking up $37.8 million of his guaranteed salary in 2024. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin doubled down on his offensive reshuffle by trading for former Chicago Bears first-round QB Justin Fields.
While Wilson has been publicly anointed the starter in Pittsburgh, it’s been theorized that if Fields does well competing in training camp, he could earn first-team reps at practice and eventually supplant his veteran counterpart. Fields is poised to be in football rehab with Wilson shining his positive light of wisdom and experience on the young man.
Not so fast, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, who lambasted the Steelers' new-look offense.
“You’ve got two incomplete guys that you’re trying to shoehorn in here,” Garafolo said on former Seattle sports radio’s Jason Puckett’s podcast. “I don’t get the plan. I don’t think it works incredibly well with what Arthur Smith wants to do offensively. I don’t know what the hell the plan is, and this is one of those, well, it’s the Steelers and they’re going to find a way to go 9-8. I’m not so sure this time around. This might be my stop, folks.”
Tomlin currently holds the record for the most consecutive non-losing seasons as a head coach
(17) and has never recorded a losing year. Meanwhile, the Steelers have failed to replace Ben Roethlisberger after his retirement in 2021.
Pittsburgh has since parted with Mason Rudolph, Kenny Pickett, and Mitchell Tribusky. The Steelers are looking to capitalize on a low-cost, potentially high-reward scenario as Wilson mentors Fields.
Garafolo, who’s known for his opinionated and passionate takes, took exception to the notion of mentor and pupil.
“I like Justin Fields, to a certain extent," Garafolo said, "and I’d be okay with him in certain scenarios where you’ve got an established starter and somebody he can learn from, but like, what’s he going to learn from Russ?”
“He’s not the kind of guy that I want to be the mentor either,” Garafolo continued.
“Sean Payton was livid last year with the way Russ was running the offense, or lack of running the offense,” Garafolo said. “He made it this far in his career. He knows how to play the quarterback position, but he doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy that I’m like, ‘Boy, show him all the ways of doing things in the NFL.’ That’s not Russ to me. I don’t get it. I don’t get the whole thing.”
Wilson’s exit from the Seattle Seahawks was as messy as his jettison from Denver after reports surfaced of a rift between Wilson and his then-head coach Pete Carroll. Various Seahawks teammates poured out of the woodwork with their own tales of woes with Wilson amid ‘Team 3’ drama.
The reality is, Wilson enters his 13th NFL season on his third team in four seasons, with a pair of disastrous exits from two historic franchises. There’s one common denominator, and I, too, doubt that Wilson intends on coaching Fields or helping him earn starting reps.
Wilson is focused on proving the Seahawks and Broncos wrong by resurrecting his career with the Steelers. Russ will turn 36 this season and told former Broncos wideout Brandon Marshall in February that he intends on winning two Super Bowls in the next five years.
It doesn’t sound like Wilson got the memo about mentoring from Tomlin or the Steelers.
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