PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The biggest takeaway from the Steelers agreeing to sign Russell Wilson to a one-year contract is that they believe they can win right now. They don't think they can do that with Kenny Pickett at quarterback.
They feel they have the defense to win, have the running game to win, have a couple of receivers to win, are working to improve the offensive line to win and now have a Super Bowl champion quarterback to lead them.
If you look just at the numbers from 2023, Wilson can compete in a world with other elite NFL quarterbacks.
· Threw 26 touchdowns in 15 games
· 8 interceptions
· 66.4 completion percentage
· 98 quarterback rating, 7th in the NFL
· His adjusted completion percentage, which accounts for dropped passes, he was second in the NFL only to Patrick Mahomes.
2023 Highlights
• Wilson had 11 games with multiple touchdowns including three games with three touchdown passes including in an upset win over the Chiefs.
• Wilson also beat the Bills in Buffalo, Green Bay, Cleveland by 17 and lost by five at Houston.
• PFF ranked Wilson 13th in 'Big Time Throws' ahead of Lamar Jackson and CJ Stroud even missing the last two games.
• 4th best in red zone touchdown passes with 20 to one interception, completed 60% of his passes in the red zone
Steelers decided to win now. Not spend the season figuring out if Kenny Pickett can play in the NFL and potentially be a winning quarterback going forward.
Does this mean Pickett is done with the Steelers? Probably. The 2022 first-round pick has shown intangibles to win in the NFL. He showed the courage to bring teams back late in games, but didn't show enough for them to believe he could help them win a division with Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow and Deshaun Watson, let alone Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Tua and more in the AFC.
It's a tough day for Pickett, but this is a results business. Pickett didn't give them enough results and the Steelers believe they can win now. So they went for it.
You can't say they're not trying.
