I’ve got issues with the Steelers' addition of Russell Wilson, none having to do with his vet-minimum $1.2 million cap hit, none having to do with his nine Pro Bowl selections or his Super Bowl ring, none having to do with his 26 touchdowns against eight interceptions in 2023, but rather, all of this:
• He held onto the ball longer than any NFL quarterback this past season, which is partly why he took 45 sacks and was forever being flushed from the pocket
• He completed more passes behind the line of scrimmage than any NFL quarterback, often as instant checkdowns
• He threw fewer passes over the middle than any NFL quarterback
And if that sounds familiar, maybe that's because it hasn't been all that long since Matt Canada was still working.
Now, I don’t cover the Broncos, and I've never covered Wilson. So I couldn't know the ins and outs of why all of the above occurred on the field, any more than I could know why his previous two employers are absorbing a combined $110 million cap hit so that he can play elsewhere, accounting for the largest dead-money hit in league history ... by a factor of three!
Here’s what I do know right now, though, and I really like it: Omar Khan isn’t kidding around.
Say what one will about Wilson’s performance/persona matters in recent years, and say what one will about Mike Tomlin’s handlings of Mason Rudolph, Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky and the quarterback position in general since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement, but what’s clearest about bringing aboard Wilson is that all concerned, chiefly Khan, Andy Weidl and Tomlin, aren’t embarking on the 2024 season as if it’s status quo. As if poking their heads into the playoffs is enough. Or worse by far, as if they should prioritize potential over the present.
I’m not just talking quarterbacks here. I’m talking about the whole thing.
I’m also talking about T.J. Watt.
All due respect to Cam Heyward and Minkah Fitzpatrick, neither’s ever been seen as the sport’s premier defensive player or, as I see T.J., the best player period. And as such, I don’t know that either Cam or Minkah would be connected with whatever passes for a window in the NFL's perennial parity party.
But T.J.?
That’s different. He’s special. And special players should compete for championships, as even a casual glance at this franchise’s own history will underscore: Think of a legit great player for the Steelers, then think of their participation in Super Bowls, and there's almost always at least one. The closest I can come to exceptions in the post-Immaculate Reception era are Cam and … I guess Maurkice Pouncey qualifies, but only because he was hurt for Super Bowl XLV.
Well, T.J. hasn’t even sniffed one: In his seven seasons, the Steelers have logged four total playoff games. They've lost all four. The most recent victory came in January 2017, and he'd be drafted four months later.
That’s criminal. That can’t continue. A player of his pedigree, his character, his commitment can’t be wasted this way. My goodness, even Andrew McCutchen’s come closer in Pittsburgh, as a member of the Pirates’ 2013-15 playoff teams, than T.J.
So yeah, go get a quarterback who’s established and experienced enough that Tomlin’s handling of quarterbacks -- more on that in a can't-wait-to-write-it Friday Insider tomorrow, by the way -- couldn’t be much of a factor. Go get Patrick Queen … which still has me all gosh-wow 48 hours later. Go get a bona fide No. 1 wide receiver who’d be not a replacement but an upgrade over Diontae Johnson. Go get a starting outside corner who’d be not a replacement but an upgrade over Levi Wallace and/or an aging Patrick Peterson. Go get … well, no, actually, don’t get a center through free agency, if only because I’d love to add Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson via the NFL Draft.
There’s money at hand, an estimated $18.3 million in cap space, which is another plus from the Wilson signing, in that no team anywhere will spend as little on quarterbacks as the Steelers. That’s unusual and uncomfortable, but it’s also there to be utilized as they’ve already done. I’ve no doubt, for example, that a pursuit of Queen doesn’t cross management’s collective mind if they'd had to pay the going rate at quarterback.
Keep pushing. Keep the aggressive approach. Keep thinking about 2024.
T.J.’s just 29, still within the peak years of his career. That’s the real rush.
• Everyone's entitled to their own favorite enduring image of T.J., though I’d imagine most would cite the trademark leg-kick after a sack. For me, until there's playoff success, it’ll be him seated inside his stall in Orchard Park, N.Y., head in hands, after the playoff loss to the Bills. He couldn't suit up, of course, but that evidently took none of the sting away. Another year had come and gone with nothing. And this guy who’s got it all in his life and career, not least of which will be a yellow jacket someday, appeared as crushed as anyone in there.
• If T.J. finally tastes that playoff success, imagine how much more it’d mean if it’s founded on defense.
• Work to do, though.
• I swear, Khan could butcher his next three moves and still have enjoyed an awesome offseason just for Queen. This dude's 24, and he's ... he's ... can I just blurt out that this was how I felt about the Minkah acquisition?
• Johnson’s as unusual a case as I can recall covering. A seemingly exemplary individual off the field, he’s somehow still capable of almost anything on it, both good and bad. Ultimately, though, he’s 28, he’s entering a contract year, he’s felt underused here — and told me so — and, because of that, he wanted out. I didn’t detect any acrimony at any point. But he’s on the cusp of becoming old for a wide receiver whose brand’s based on route-running and broader quickness.
• The Steelers sure do know how to accede to wide receivers who want out, first banishing Chase Claypool to the Bears and now Johnson to the Panthers. Next set of complaints might result in a cargo-bay shipment to Siberia.
• So, am I forgetting anything? Hmm …
• Oh, right: Mason Rudolph’s off to Music City, where he’ll sign with the Titans for a year at $3.62 million to become, in all likelihood, Will Levis’ backup. It’s fair pay — almost a quadrupling of his salary from this past season — and a fair scenario, as Levis will be entering Year 2 and could need help. Here’s wishing the best for Rudolph, a terrific young man and, as we all just witnessed, a quarterback who’s still on the ascent. He’ll be missed on South Water Street.
• Just not by Tomlin, apparently. Nor anyone else parroting the company lines about how they all wanted to “continue to do business” with him, and how they were intent on making an offer, and how important it’d be to have competition in training camp this summer. All of that was bunk, from the top down, from beginning to end. And I say that, believe it or not, independent of the Wilson signing and a sentiment that would’ve changed on that count alone.
• Maybe they’re right, though. Maybe it was all a mirage. Maybe Rudolph really was nothing more than “the hot hand,” as Tomlin termed it almost derisively at one point through those final four games. Guess we’ll see. I wouldn’t bet against Levis, who impressed me here at Acrisure Stadium this past season, but I sure wouldn’t bet against Rudolph, either.
• Barring injury, Kenny Pickett's got roughly the same chance of starting for the Steelers this fall as I do. But mark my words: We're still going to hear about a purported competition from Lucy Van Pelt holding her finger on that football.
• Ed Ott days till Miami.
• Again, an absolutely loaded Insider awaits tomorrow. And I'll seldom say that in advance.
• Thanks for reading.
• And/or listening:
