The Pittsburgh Steelers landed Russell Wilson with some help from their defensive leaders, Cam Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and T.J. Watt. While the initial thought was that Kenny Pickett and Wilson would compete, that did not come to fruition.
But it was the recruitment from the defensive players that shined a light on just how much the team wanted Wilson with the group. And Heyward discussed that on the Rich Eisen Show, detailing what he wanted out of Wilson and why he is excited for his arrival.
“We were losing quarterbacks left and right,” Heyward said. “Mason Rudolph had just left, Mitch Trubisky was gone, and I thought there was going to be a completion there between him and Kenny, but now, going forward, you just look for the leadership for a guy that has been in Seattle and won games. I mean, he’s won a Super Bowl already. He didn’t have the best time in Denver, but you know, I think he’s a hungry guy who is ready to prove people wrong. On the opposite side of the ball, we have so many great weapons and many of them are younger. So, having a more established guy who has been through it is going to benefit the group.”
Statistically, Wilson had a rebound in 2023 after a rough season in 2022. Last year, Wilson started 15 games for the Broncos, completing 297 of 447 passes (66.4%) for 3,070 yards, 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions for a 98.0 passer rating and a 6.04 adjusted net yards per attempt. Wilson was benched by the Broncos for the stretch run, after a contract dispute between him and the team over his contract guarantee for the 2025 season.
Denver is just two seasons removed from trading for Wilson. The Broncos sent two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive lineman Shelby Harris and tight end Noah Fant to the Seahawks for Wilson on March 16, 2022.
A Super Bowl champion and nine-time Pro Bowler with the Seahawks, Russell Wilson struggled in Denver. He posted an 84.4 passer rating in 2022, which was by far the lowest mark of his career, and was sacked a league-high 55 times.
The Broncos fired head coach Nathaniel Hackett after just one season, trading more draft picks for former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton this past offseason. Wilson played better, but he did not appear to have a solid relationship with Payton, who has criticized Wilson this offseason.
The Broncos absorbed a gigantic salary cap hit in order to move on from Wilson. They can minimize it if they release him with a post-June 1 designation, but that would still deal them an $85 million in dead cap charges over each the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
