Steelers counting on 'revived' quarterback Russell Wilson to return franchise to glory

Time will reveal whether Russell Wilson, in his age 35 season, is in the twilight of his Super Bowl-winning NFL career or if a change of scenery with the Pittsburgh Steelers will rejuvenate it.

It took only a few months with the Steelers for Wilson to make up his mind on that issue.

“I feel the fountain of youth,” Wilson said in June after his first minicamp practice with his new team. “I feel revived in every way — mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I feel confident.”

Wilson, of course, hasn’t taken a hit yet — and he won’t until he plays in a preseason game, given that quarterbacks are off limits from contact during practice. He hasn’t even eluded an oncoming pass rusher wearing pads. That won’t take place until the first full week of training camp.

Still, the Steelers believe Wilson will be the answer at quarterback — at least in the short term — after two seasons in which former Pitt star Kenny Pickett struggled to produce points while running the offense.

By giving Wilson the chance to rebuild his career after two turbulent seasons in Denver, the Steelers lured the 13-year veteran away from other interested suitors at little cost — a one-year deal for the NFL minimum salary. Wilson will represent the biggest change on the Steelers when they report to Saint Vincent College on Wednesday and conduct their first training camp workout the following day.

The Steelers made other high-profile moves in the offseason. Arthur Smith was hired as offensive coordinator. Wide receiver Diontae Johnson was traded to the Carolina Panthers. Linebacker Patrick Queen was lured across the AFC North and away from the Baltimore Ravens. They also traded for Justin Fields, giving the quarterback room another fresh face.

Wilson, though, is the focal point of the new-look Steelers offense. Shortly after Wilson was signed, coach Mike Tomlin put Wilson in the “pole position” on the quarterback depth chart, and he will enter camp with the job his to lose.

“I think at some point you’ve got to know who you are,” Wilson said, “who you are as a player, as a man, as a competitor. As somebody who has been fortunate to play this game, I don’t doubt it. I trust it. I felt really good last year playing. I feel really confident in the midst of everything.

“I think right now I have all that confidence times 10.”

Wilson could be forgiven if he felt otherwise, if his confidence had taken a hit given what has transpired in recent seasons after his rise to stardom with the Seattle Seahawks.

He earned a Super Bowl ring in 2013, his second year in the NFL. And he returned to the Super Bowl the following year when a controversial last-second pass attempt was intercepted at the goal line, denying Wilson a second consecutive title.

Since then, Wilson has gone 3-5 in playoff appearances, and he hasn’t played in the postseason since a 2020 wild-card loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Although Wilson was selected to the Pro Bowl for a ninth time in 2021, Seattle traded him to Denver after the season.

Wilson’s two-year stay with the Broncos wasn’t a complete disaster. He threw 26 touchdown passes against eight interceptions last year. But he also had an 11-19 record as a starter. The Broncos were so eager to part with Wilson that they agreed to pay his guaranteed $39 million salary — and take on a $53 million dead cap hit — for the 2024 season and grant him free agency.

“There are tough moments along the way and in the midst of those highs, too,” Wilson said. “All those moments build you up those scars, those things that you go through that don’t necessarily go your way. It builds you up for the next moment, it prepares you for the next moment, and that’s what you look forward to.”

Considering the way the offense fared last season — the Steelers finished No. 25 in total yards and No. 27 in points — a fresh approach was needed. Changing coordinators was expected heading into the offseason. Changing the entire quarterback room was not.

The Steelers jumped at the chance to sign Wilson when he became available, even if it meant eventually losing Pickett in the aftermath.

“I think probably the most attractive component of his profile to me is his quest for greatness, man,” Tomlin said about Wilson. “His chase for legacy. This is not a guy who is hungry, meaning that he can be satisfied. This is a guy that is driven, and you want to work with people of that mindset. This guy’s got a vision of what he wants his career to look like.”

Perhaps to Wilson’s detriment, some of his skeptics allege. Former NFL quarterback Chris Simms, an analyst for NBC Sports, slotted Wilson at No. 21 in his annual offseason ranking of top quarterbacks and offered a harsh assessment of the quarterback’s play.

“He’s a guy that still has top-notch ability, but he lost his way in trusting himself and trusting what he sees on the football field,” Simms wrote. “He’s a little too worried about his overall standing in the pantheon of quarterbacks, what it might look like if he plays this way in this game. I want to say to him, ‘Hey, man, stop thinking so much. Just let it fly a little bit.’”

Teammates and coaches had no complaints in offseason workouts about Wilson’s mentality or his ability at 35 to throw the deep ball. Wilson seemed to be at ease running around the pocket looking for targets, which can be a challenge for a quarterback who stands just 5-foot-11 and is one of the league’s shortest passers.

“There aren’t very many quarterbacks in the NFL that look like Russ, and that was one of the first things he told me,” said quarterbacks coach Tom Arth, another newcomer to the Steelers. “Somebody asked him that early in his career: How are you going to do it? And what he said was, ‘It’s about what I got in here (pointing at his heart) and what I got up here (pointing at his head).’

“To me, that is everything.”

Wilson and the Steelers are kindred spirits in that each enters the 2024 season trying to rewrite recent history. The franchise hasn’t reached the Super Bowl since the 2010 season, last winning a playoff game in 2016. From team president Art Rooney II to second-year general manager Omar Khan to Tomlin, who is entering his 18th season, the Steelers are betting on Wilson finding that proverbial fountain of youth to end that drought.

“It’s not about me,” Wilson said. “It’s about us — together. It’s been a fun, cool experience so far.”