Russell Wilson’s redemption or final journey? The QB’s legacy hangs within the stability

Russell Wilson can nonetheless bear in mind the cellphone name that began all of it on April 27, 2012.

The Seattle Seahawks had simply handed Matt Flynn a three-year contract with the expectation he would stabilize their unsure quarterback state of affairs. However within the third spherical (choose No. 75), the Seahawks modified the course of their franchise’s historical past after they took an opportunity on an undersized passer from Wisconsin.

“Pete (Carroll) known as me after I received drafted, and mentioned, ‘Go forward and go for this factor,’” Wilson recalled final week. “I mentioned, ‘Coach, I don’t know some other manner.’”

Wilson was coming off of an extremely environment friendly season at Wisconsin, finishing 72.8 p.c of his passes for 3,175 yards and 33 touchdowns towards simply 4 interceptions. His dynamic mobility added a spark that propelled the Badgers to the Huge Ten title and a second consecutive Rose Bowl look.

Nevertheless, in a draft class that additionally featured Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, questions on Wilson continued. May a 5-foot-11 QB actually make it within the NFL? Many questioned whether or not baseball could be a greater path for the dual-threat, dual-sport athlete.

“Once I was a rookie, I used to be a younger African American child from Richmond, Virginia,” Wilson mentioned. “Everyone instructed me I used to be too quick and couldn’t do it.”

A dozen years later — after 9 Professional Bowl appearances, a Lombardi Trophy, a blockbuster commerce and a messy breakup in Denver — Wilson as soon as once more obtained a career-altering cellphone name. This time it was Steelers defensive lineman Cameron Heyward with a recruiting pitch.

“It’s completely different from faculty, as a result of I didn’t have to fret about NIL,” Heyward joked.

In 2023, the Steelers’ proficient and extremely compensated protection lugged an anemic offense quarterbacked by Kenny Pickett and coordinated by Matt Canada to the playoffs. The long-time defensive captain noticed one thing in Wilson that gave him confidence he may assist the crew chase the Lombardi Trophy that has eluded Heyward.

“Management,” Heyward mentioned. “He’s already received a Tremendous Bowl and might present data there, however then additionally somebody who’s additionally hungry chasing one other one.”

From the second he signed, Wilson all the time had the within monitor to start out Week 1, even when coach Mike Tomlin maintained by coaching camp and the preseason that this was a real competitors with Justin Fields. On Wednesday, the coach ended any hypothesis when he introduced Wilson because the starter for Week 1 in Atlanta.

As Wilson begins this subsequent chapter of his NFL journey, the doubt that after prompted him to fall within the draft has resurfaced — however another way following two turbulent seasons in Denver.

Quickly after Wilson was traded to the Broncos, he mentioned he needed to play one other 10 or 12 seasons and win one other couple of Tremendous Bowls. He thought of the change of surroundings one other chapter in a narrative he hopes ends in Canton.

Nevertheless, that experiment ended prematurely after simply two years and an 11-19 file. Wilson in the end watched the ultimate two video games from the bench after the Broncos gave up on him. Sean Payton, a well-respected offensive thoughts, and the Broncos selected to tackle $85 million in lifeless cash to maneuver on from the participant who was as soon as seen as the way forward for their franchise.

Wilson blames {a partially} torn lat muscle in his throwing shoulder for his poor 2022 season in Denver, when he posted profession lows in completion proportion (60.5) and passer ranking (84.4). Nevertheless, even when wholesome, he has lengthy relied closely on creating performs exterior of construction. With a few of his mobility misplaced to age, he took a league-high 100 sacks during the last two seasons (one thing that’s already been a problem in Pittsburgh).

Across the league, the notion of Wilson has pale rapidly. 4 years in the past, he was a unanimous Tier 1 quarterback alongside Patrick Mahomes in Mike Sando’s annual ballot of fifty NFL coaches and executives, rating forward of Aaron Rodgers. After his disastrous 2022 season, he dropped from Tier 2 (No. 8) to Tier 3 (No. 16). Even after an improved 2023 season, Wilson slipped additional on this yr’s ballot, falling to No. 22 and getting ready to Tier 4, which is reserved for unproven gamers or veterans “who ideally wouldn’t begin 17 video games.”

Requested about these doubting him, Wilson answered along with his trademark unrelenting optimism.

“I feel lots of people doubt, and it’s nothing that I’m not used to. I’ve heard it for a very long time,” he mentioned. “I’ve simply by no means been anxious about what different individuals suppose. … God selected me for this, and he selected me to play this sport. I’m one in all 32 males on the planet that get to do what I do. There’s 8 billion individuals on the planet, and for no matter purpose, I get to be one in all these guys.”

However for a way for much longer will he be a kind of 32? This can be a make-or-break season for Wilson that may form not solely the Steelers’ ceiling but in addition the QB’s legacy.

On one hand, he brings a resume with Corridor of Fame potential. He ranks fourth all-time in passer ranking (100.0), thirteenth in passing touchdowns (334), nineteenth in passing yardage (43,653), nineteenth in completions (3,668), twentieth in completion proportion (64.7) and fifteenth in wins (115). He nonetheless throws what assistant GM Andy Weidl described as a “majestic” deep ball and brings the intangible management traits Tomlin covets.

Russell Wilson does two issues the Steelers probably worth: Protects the soccer and throws a fantastic deep ball.

Since he entered the league in 2012, Wilson has accomplished 35.4% of his passes that traveled 30 or extra yards within the air (eighth finest).

He is misplaced 0.73 TO/gm, eighth finest. pic.twitter.com/X0qjz5Ajgh

— Mike DeFabo (@MikeDeFabo) March 11, 2024

“This isn’t a man who was hungry, which means that may be happy,” Tomlin mentioned in March, quickly after the Steelers signed Wilson. “This can be a man that’s pushed. You need to work with individuals who have that mindset.”

Steelers teammates say Wilson’s confidence and dedication — which some former teammates in Seattle and Denver have criticized as inauthentic — have rubbed off positively in Pittsburgh.

“He’s very assured in himself, and he tries to instill confidence in others,” receiver Calvin Austin III mentioned. “That’s in all probability the most important factor. As a result of to start, it’s important to have perception in your self, and that’s the message that he pushes to everybody round him, and you’ll inform that it’s undoubtedly sticking with all people.”

For all the pieces he completed early in his profession, nothing is assured for Wilson at this stage.

He agreed to a one-year deal in Pittsburgh, suggesting the league — which has a scarcity of high quality QBs — wasn’t enamored by his previous two seasons. For the primary time in his NFL profession, he’ll enter a season with no cash assured within the following yr. The Steelers additionally traded for Fields after Wilson’s signing, making it honest to wonder if the crew needed an alternate within the occasion issues don’t pan out as deliberate.

Wilson, who says he needs to play one other 5 to seven seasons, has the chance in Pittsburgh to show his time in Denver was a blip on the radar, not Father Time knocking. If he can recapture a few of the magic from his days in Seattle — when he was surrounded by a proficient protection and a dependable operating sport, like he’s now with the Steelers — it may reshape the best way the league sees that two-year stint. Perhaps it was the dysfunction round Wilson — not the quarterback himself — that sullied his time in Denver?

Requested Wednesday if he feels he has one thing to show after two years with the Broncos, Wilson replied, “I really feel like that each day. You attempt to show your self, simply who you might be, the way you go about it. … I’m not targeted on something previous, or something forward. I’m simply targeted on proper now and the second.”

If Wilson thrives in Pittsburgh, he’ll have choices subsequent offseason as a free agent, and maybe a shot to play these half dozen extra seasons he wishes. Kirk Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million take care of $100 million assured with the Falcons this spring, months earlier than his thirty sixth birthday and whereas recovering from a torn Achilles. Baker Mayfield garnered a three-year, $100 million take care of the Bucs after a resurgent season in Tampa.

However Wilson must show it. The Steelers, who’ve a long-standing coverage of not negotiating contracts in-season, haven’t been offered sufficient but to supply Wilson an extension earlier than Week 1. They may let the season play out, Weidl mentioned, earlier than deciding whether or not they’ll prolong Wilson or Fields, who can also be within the closing yr of his contract.

When Wilson was a rookie, he usually mentioned, “Expertise is just needed for many who are unqualified.” At 35, he’s advanced that mantra: “Age is just needed for many who are unqualified.”

“I really feel the fountain of youth,” Wilson mentioned in Could. “I really feel revived in each manner — mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I really feel assured. I feel that sooner or later, it’s important to know who you might be as a participant, as a person, as a competitor, as somebody who’s lucky to play this sport. I belief it.

“I felt actually good final yr taking part in. I felt actually assured, within the midst of all the pieces. I feel now I’ve all that confidence occasions 10.”

But when that confidence doesn’t result in outcomes? This may very well be his final likelihood.

There’s no assurance he’ll even be the Steelers’ starter all season. Fields is ready within the wings and labored extensively with the first-team offense whereas Wilson’s calf damage sidelined him in coaching camp and the preseason. The Steelers invested so little in Wilson that they’d lose nothing by pivoting midseason.

If that occurs, or if Wilson has an underwhelming season, who else would need him as a starter? And would Wilson — who has averaged $30.3 million in annual earnings during the last 10 years — even entertain the potential for being a backup? Would he simply name it a profession, a number of seasons and some Tremendous Bowl rings shy of his said objectives?

It’s not possible to know the way it will unfold. However in a world filled with doubt, that is one factor you may rely on: This season, good or unhealthy, will form the backstretch and the ultimate picture of Wilson’s profession.

“When it comes to legacy, the rationale why I got here right here is I need to win one other Tremendous Bowl or two, and that’s what we received to do,” Wilson mentioned. “That’s our plan. That’s our technique. That’s our mission each day. And I feel that’s what actually issues.”

(High photographs: Joe Sargent / Getty Photographs)