Steelers Become AFC North Contenders With Russell Wilson
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers may have a match made in heaven coming to the Steel City in former Broncos and Seahwaks quarterback, Russell Wilson if one analyst is correct.
ESPN's Dan Orlovsky, a former NFL quarterback himself, believes Wilson will make the Steelers into a contender in the AFC North among powerhouses like Baltimore and Cincinnati going into 2024.
"Its a great fit between player, coach and the system they want to run," Orlovsky said in an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. "The reality is, waking up yesterday morning, the Steelers did not have a chance within the division. Now they realistically have a chance. Now, are they the favorite over Baltimore or Cincinnati? No and we'll see what happens with Tee Higgins."
If last season was any indication, the Steelers aren't far behind the rest of their division. They finished in third place, one game behind the second-place Browns and three games back of first-place Baltimore, whom they beat in both games played this season. The Bengals finished in fourth place but that's with star quarterback Joe Burrow missing seven games with a calf injury.
The Steelers inked Wilson to a one-year veteran minimum deal made possible because the Broncos will pay him $39 million in dead cap money after cutting the former All-Pro this offseason.
Orlovsky even believes that Wilson would be walking into a better situation in Pittsburgh than he had in Buffalo. If he is able to improve on his 2023 season, during which he threw for over 3,000 yards and 26 touchdowns, the Steelers could improve dramatically.
"Russell Wilson, in the midst of chaos, not great offensive line play and skill position players that weren't healthy all the time, was a top-10, top-12 quarterback for most of the season," Orlovsky said. "And if you just take last year and you get that Russell Wilson - and I would say Pittsburgh, as an offense in totality is a better situation, the offensive line is going to be better than it was in Denver and the skill position people are definitely better than they were in Denver - than you're going to take a team that was 10-7 and that's worth at least two more wins and that's just the truth."
The Steelers haven't made the addition of Wilson official and, for the moment, Kenny Pickett is still the QB1 but that is expected to change quickly with Wilson in the fold. Either way, there's loads of potential for Pittsburgh with Wilson now on the roster.
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