Author: Ryland Bickley

Russell Wilson’s $1.2 million contract looks better every day.

News broke Friday afternoon that Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has agreed to a four-year, $212.4 million extension with Miami. The deal averages $53.1 million a year with $167 million guaranteed. It’s the richest contract in Dolphins’ history.

Tagovailoa is now the seventh NFL quarterback making over $50 million annually, and the 15th making $40 million or more.

In short, about half of the league’s starting quarterbacks are each costing approximately 20 percent of their team’s total cap space in 2024.

Considering positional value, it’s hardly surprising. However, players like Tagovailoa and Daniel Jones, good quarterbacks who still haven’t proven to be franchise-defining, Super Bowl-caliber passers, are getting contracts comparable to Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. The going rate for starting quarterbacks is hopelessly inflated.

Now, I’ll throw another number at you: $1.2 million. That’s Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson’s contract in 2024. Thanks to the Broncos still owing Wilson around $39 million this season, he was able to sign for a hilariously low number in Pittsburgh.

At this point in his career, Wilson may not be on the caliber of any of the $40 million-plus quarterbacks in the NFL today. But he’s still a tremendous bargain. Despite his Steelers contract, he’s far more than 1/45th of the quarterback that Tagovailoa is.

This isn’t to say that Wilson is the missing piece for a Steelers’ Super Bowl run — but considering the state of the quarterback market, he and talented backup Justin Fields ($3.2 million cap hit) present an exceedingly rare opportunity this season for the Steelers. $1.2 million quarterbacks with Wilson’s abilities don’t grow on trees — if he plays solidly in 2024, or even on the same level he did last year in Denver, you can bet he’ll command a much larger contract next season.

Now, it’s up to Wilson, the Steelers, and general manager Omar Khan to capitalize on the franchise’s extra spending money in 2024. With a bargain like Wilson, the Steelers can’t be content to rebuild this season — it’s as good an opportunity as any to commit to winning now.

Wilson said the injury is “nothing to worry about at all.”

Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson talked to the media Friday about the calf issue that has kept him out of the Steelers’ first two training camp practices of the year.

Per a video from The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo, Wilson explained that he “tweaked” his calf while doing a sled push during conditioning drills, later stating that it’s “nothing to worry about at all.”

When asked if he’d be able to play if it was a game, Wilson answered without hesitation: “Definitely.”

Wilson stated he’s still getting “mental reps” in and that he’s thankful he was able to work with the Steelers’ receivers prior to training camp.

“Good news is that I feel good and we’ll get there in time,” he added.

Wilson’s timeline for returning remains unclear, but the Steelers’ quarterback didn’t seem all too concerned. Despite not practicing, he’s still been throwing to receivers after the session is over.

In the meantime, Wilson’s unavailability has opened the door for the rest of the Steelers’ quarterbacks depth chart to log valuable training camp reps.