Category: Football

Russell Wilson will turn 36 next week, and while the decorated quarterback has not been on the league’s top tier at the position for a bit, he has found some traction in Pittsburgh. The 13th-year veteran has established himself as the Steelers’ starter, and the team is not deviating from an aim it expressed upon acquiring him.

The Steelers had gone to notable lengths to assure Wilson he was the priority this offseason, with rumors about a second contract — despite the two-year Broncos starter having just signed his first with the team — coming out immediately after the Justin Fields trade commenced. Fields and Wilson remain free agents-to-be, and with the Steelers not changing their policy of not negotiating in-season to account for this unique situation, the team has some decisions to make early in the 2025 offseason.

Although Fields caught up with Wilson during training camp — to force a late-August Mike Tomlin call — and started the first six games due to the veteran’s nagging calf injury, Wilson has stayed healthy since the September setback. The former Super Bowl winner has not done anything to prompt the Steelers to change plans, with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac indicating the club intends to re-sign its current starter.

With the Steelers not changing their in-season negotiating policy — in place for 30-plus years — they have a narrow window to complete a second Wilson contract. How far Pittsburgh advances in the playoffs will shape that window, as 2025 UFAs will be free to speak with other teams beginning March 10. The franchise tag window opens Feb. 18, but like Baker Mayfield this past offseason, Wilson does not seem a true candidate to clog a team’s cap with a QB tag number (2024’s was $38.3MM) just so the Steelers can keep negotiating without outside interference. The March 10 deadline will apply here.

The Bucs re-signed Mayfield a day before this year’s legal tampering period, agreeing to a three-year deal worth $100MM. Mayfield being six years younger than Wilson complicates the latter’s path, though midlevel QB1 deals like Mayfield’s and those given to Derek Carr, Geno Smith and Daniel Jones could certainly be relevant. Smith’s three-year, $75MM Seahawks deal became team-friendly quickly, as he is the only quarterback with an AAV between $12.5MM and $33.3MM.

Wilson’s age makes that territory the Steelers will likely try to explore, though the potential Hall of Famer has a past as a shrewd negotiator. While Wilson’s fiercest negotiations came in Seattle, his Denver deal (five years, $245MM) has introduced a historically high hurdle for the Broncos to clear due to the record-setting dead money stretching to 2026. Wilson is tied to a veteran-minimum contract, as he had guaranteed money coming his way from Denver, with Pittsburgh.

Only making four starts with his new team before Thursday night’s game, Wilson has directed the Steelers to a 4-0 record. Starting off better than he did with the Broncos, Wilson has averaged 7.8 yards per attempt (60.3% completion rate) and thrown six touchdown passes compared to two interceptions. This is still a small sample size, but Pro-Football-Reference would rank Wilson 33rd in QBR (43.0) were he to have enough snaps to qualify. This is south of his 2023 Denver mark (50.7). The Steelers not negotiating in-season will allow for more data to emerge, as this probably will not be a simple negotiation assuming Wilson proves enough to be viewed as a 2025 starter.

The Steelers have not enjoyed quality QB play since before Ben Roethlisberger‘s 2019 elbow injury, with the Kenny Pickett plan backfiring quickly. How Wilson fares down the stretch will be a key NFL subplot, as Fields drifting to the backup level moves the 2021 draftee closer to free agency. Wilson and the Steelers’ price points will be fascinating, as the sides’ quest to find middle ground on a medium-term deal will be one of the 2025 offseason’s top storylines.

Eric Rowe is on his way back to Pittsburgh. The veteran safety has signed to the Steelers’ practice squad, per a team announcement.

Almost exactly one year ago, Rowe joined the Steelers en route to playing a key role for the team down the stretch and into the postseason. The 32-year-old recently visited Pittsburgh as a free agent, as noted by KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. He was joined in that regard by Marquise Blair, but to little surprise the Steelers have elected to go with the familiar option.

Rowe started all three of his regular season appearances for Pittsburgh last year, remaining a first-team presence during the team’s wild-card loss. He was not re-signed in the offseason, however, and no agreement was reached with any other suitors on the open market. Having remained a free agent well into the campaign, he will aim to join Pittsburgh’s active roster in short order. The Utah product will be an option for a gameday elevation up to three times, and succeeding in that regard could land him on the active roster.

The Steelers’ defense has been among the league’s best in a number of areas, but there is room for improvement against the pass. Pittsburgh sits 18th in terms of passing yards allowed per game (215), and Rowe could step into at least a depth role in a bid to help in that department. The former second-rounder has recorded six interceptions and 43 pass deflections in 103 games, and some of that ball production came during his brief 2023 period as a Steeler.

Minkah Fitzpatrick and DeShon Elliott have operated as safety starters for Pittsburgh in 2024. Provided they remain healthy, that will likely be the case through the rest of the season. As the 8-2 Steelers look to remain atop the AFC North, they will have an additional option in the secondary for the second half of the campaign.

C.J Henderson has yet to make his Steelers debut, and that will remain the case for an extended period. The former first-rounder corner was placed on injured reserve, the team announced Saturday.

Henderson joined the Steelers in September, initially inking a practice squad deal. He was promoted to the active roster last month amidst interest from other teams, but he has still yet to make an appearance. A neck injury will now keep Henderson sidelined for at least the next four games as Pittsburgh looks to remain atop the AFC North.

Pittsburgh enters Week 11 with a 7-2 record ahead of a critical matchup with the Ravens. The team’s defense has remained among the league’s best units with both Justin Fields and Russell Wilson at the helm; the Steelers have allowed 16.2 points per games this year, the second-best mark in the NFL. The team’s secondary has not been as strong, as Pittsburgh sits just 19th against the pass.

Henderson’s absence will require the Steelers to continue leaning heavily on Joey Porter Jr. and Donte Jackson as starters at the cornerback spot. The likes of undrafted rookie Beanie Bishop along with Cameron Sutton – recently reinstated from suspension – are in place to handle rotational roles in the secondary. Missed time will further hinder Henderson’s ability to carve out a role with the Steelers.

The 26-year-old entered the league with high expectations but he played only 10 games with the Jaguars before being traded during his second season to the Panthers. Henderson made 22 starts with Carolina, but his struggles in coverage continued during his time with the team. The Florida product took a one-year deal with the Texans in free agency, but he did not survive roster cutdowns. Having yet to make an impact in Pittsburgh, Henderson is no doubt looking at another tepid market this spring.

In a corresponding move, the Steelers signed running back Jonathan Ward to the active roster. Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren have handled the bulk of the rushing load in 2024, as expected. Ward, 27, has received only five carries so far this season but he has contributed on special teams. He will feature in that capacity tomorrow provided he is part of the gameday lineup.

The Steelers are not expected to re-sign offensive linemen Dan Moore and James Daniels after the 2024 season, according to Mark Kaboly of The Pat McAfee Show.

Moore is in the final year of his rookie contract with 58 career starts at left tackle for the Steelers, a solid return for the fourth-round pick used to draft him in 2021. However, he allowed at least seven sacks in each of his first three seasons, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), and Pittsburgh used first-round draft picks on tackles in 2023 and 2024, signaling a desire to upgrade at the position. Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu primarily played left tackle in college, giving the Steelers multiple options to take over on the blindside in 2025.

Daniels started just four games at guard this year before tearing his Achilles, which will likely end his tenure in Pittsburgh. Daniels signed a three-year, $26.5MM contract with the Steelers in 2022 and largely played well over the last three years. However, the seven-year veteran will be looking to cash in on the massive increase in the offensive guard market. Pittsburgh may not be inclined to spend so much at guard after drafting Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick this past year, especially with T.J. Watt and George Pickens in line for extensions at more expensive positions.

• Broncos left guard Ben Powers confirmed he didn’t receive an offer to re-sign with the Ravens when he hit free agency in 2022, according to Chris Thomasson of The Denver Gazette. “I didn’t hear from them,” said Powers, who signed with the Broncos on a four-year, $52MM deal and returned to Baltimore for the first time in Week 9. However, the sixth-year guard didn’t hold it against Baltimore, saying that he “kind of understood their situatino. That was the offseason they were handling [Lamar Jackson‘s] contract, so I kind of anticipated it.”
• Steelers offensive line coach Pat Meyer will be expected to develop his group of young blockers over the next few seasons as Pittsburgh figures out a long-term plan at quarterback. Meyer in his third year with the team after Shaun Sarrett was fired after the 2020 season and his successor, Adrian Klemm, left for Oregon before the end of 2021. His departure was related to tensions with then-offensive coordinator Matt Canada, per Kaboly. The Steelers then fired Canada in November 2023, the franchise’s first in-season coaching change since 1941.
• Browns left tackle Jedrick Willis said on Monday that his recent benching “was pretty shocking,” per Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot. “I made a business decision not to play after the Bengals game going into that Ravens game because I was injured,” explained Willis. He hyperextended his right knee on the first play against the Bengals in Week 7 and managed to finish the game, but “couldn’t really bend” his knee the following day. He sat out Week 8 against the Ravens and was subsequently benched for Dawand Jones.
• Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said that “business decision” was a “poor choice of words” by Willis, though it would not affect whether or not he would play again this year, per Cabot.
• Stefanski also hinted that Willis’ 2023 injury is still hampering him. “I wouldn’t categorize it as a setback,” said Stefanski, per The Athletic’s Zac Jackson. “It hasn’t recovered how quickly he would want it to…it’s been a tough rehab for him.” Willis opted for surgery last year to repair his torn MCL – in the same knee he hyperextended recently – and did not debut until Week 3 this year. Willis is currently in the final year of his rookie contract, and his health issues may complicate extension negotiations with the Browns.