Kaboly: Russell Wilson could set the Steelers back years, so they better win now

One thing you can’t accuse the Pittsburgh Steelers of anymore is being conservative. Or that they’re not doing everything they can to put themselves in a position to win championships.

That’s pretty clear after they wooed and convinced Russell Wilson to join a team whose general manager, Omar Khan, said less than two weeks ago that he had “complete confidence” in incumbent quarterback Kenny Pickett and that he wanted to re-sign the free agent quarterback. Mason Rudolph, who surprisingly led Pittsburgh to the 2023 playoffs.

Bringing Wilson on board isn’t conservative, even if it is financially: the Broncos will pay just under $38 million of his $39 million guaranteed salary. This move shows that the Steelers will do whatever it takes to win now, even if there is only an outside chance that the 35-year-old (who had a .386 winning percentage over the past three seasons) will ever return to his championship ways .

It does not matter. Win now and worry about later some other time. Wilson undoubtedly shows that the Steelers are thinking win-now when it comes to quarterback play.

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He was 11-19 in two seasons with the Broncos after spending a decade with Seattle. He bounced back from a miserable 2022 season to throw for 3,070 yards, 26 touchdowns and just eight interceptions in 2023.

Wilson still lost his job after going 7-8 in coach Sean Payton’s first season. He led the Broncos to consecutive wins over Green Bay, Kansas City, Buffalo, Minnesota and Cleveland, but lost three of his last four before being benched.

Year 13. Thankful. @Steelers pic.twitter.com/0U4Q2sRtXs

— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) March 11, 2024

But there are consequences to what certainly looks like a low-risk, no-loss situation for Pittsburgh.

By signing Wilson, the Steelers begin the process of finding a franchise quarterback again.

You don’t bring in a nine-time Pro Bowler, or better yet, a former Super Bowl champion with a cheap price tag to compete with a third-year quarterback who has thrown for just 13 touchdowns in 24 career starts, as Pickett has done.

The catch is that there is no guarantee that Wilson, who agreed to a one-year deal, will be with the Steelers in 2025. Maybe he plays so well that he can make more money in free agency, or maybe he fails miserably. like he did two years ago and the Steelers don’t want him back.

This screams for a year-long experiment.

Even if Wilson plays well, he’ll be 36 in November. How much confidence do you have in a quarterback not named Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or John Elway winning a Super Bowl at that age?

And do you think the Steelers are really just a quarterback away from a championship?

That doesn’t mean this is the wrong decision. Given the way Pickett has played, his lack of development in his second season and the team’s apparent lack of confidence in Rudolph, this is a no-brainer signing – a no-brainer with consequences.

It’s about what you value.

Would you rather have the opportunity to be more competitive with a Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback late in his career? Or give the 20th pick in the 2022 draft — a guy the Steelers spoke highly of for the better part of 18 months — another year with a competent coordinator and a new position coach?

If you say try to win now and damn it, with all the consequences, then the answer is Wilson.

If you say you’re not interested in a deck of possible quarterbacks of the future, the answer is Pickett, or whoever they bring in or draft next year. The best-case scenario is drafting a quarterback in 2025 and developing him, which will take you to at least 2027 before you know if you have the quarterback of the future.

You can deal with 2027 or even later if Wilson leads the Steelers to a championship. But seriously, what are the chances of that happening?

They have to be extreme.

A lot of things need to happen for the Steelers — besides Wilson playing well — before they can win a Super Bowl this season. Just look at the AFC, with Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, CJ Stroud, Justin Herbert and, oh yeah, Patrick Mahomes to deal with.

Rudolph will likely sign elsewhere, and make no mistake, Pickett’s career as a Pittsburgh Steeler is all but over. The Steelers must decide on Pickett’s fifth-year option next May. I suppose a colossal Wilson failure combined with a late-season push from Pickett could change the youngster’s trajectory, but that’s a lot to ask.

Wilson’s signing was as much about his play as his salary.

It’s not often you get a $40 million quarterback for $1.21 million, so it’s understandable why the Steelers played coy on Wilson until news of his impending release became official and he was allowed to negotiate with other teams before his release.

Call it what it is: a calculated gamble… a calculated gamble that alienated two quarterbacks in the process.

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Losing Pickett doesn’t seem like a big deal right now, but it could be.

He didn’t get many opportunities during his rookie season, taking almost all of the third-team reps until just before the season. He was then thrown into the game for fourteen quarters of his career, with Matt Canada as his offensive coordinator and a directive from above to stifle the offense. Pickett’s relative success in that environment was a shock.

Last season was a total disaster the day after preseason ended, and you can’t help but think Canada had a lot to do with that. If his offense wasn’t suited to a Hall of Famer like Ben Roethlisberger, how could Pickett succeed?

Pickett couldn’t, and he didn’t. I get it, I understand.

But that would all change this year, with Arthur Smith leading the offense and Tom Arth bringing the knowledge he passed on to Herbert with the Chargers.

That will not happen. When you think of Pickett, there will always be a “What if?” are.

What if the Steelers didn’t keep Canada after the 2022 season? What if Pickett was given a third year to develop? Those questions will never be answered now.

All Wilson’s signing will do is create a revolving door at quarterback with no end in sight.

The only thing that will make this worth it is winning a Super Bowl, because when the Steelers decided to sign Wilson, they ensured they wouldn’t have a stable quarterback position for years to come.

If you agree to these consequences, let’s ride… or should I say #HereWeGo?

(Photo: Harry Hoe/Getty Images)