Quarterback Russell Wilson plans to sign with Steelers when new league year begins

Russell Wilson‘s ride is taking him to a new home.

The nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback plans to sign with the Steelers when the new league year begins on March 13 on a deal that will cost Pittsburgh $1.2 million in 2024, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Sunday night.

Wilson already posted a hype video for his 13th NFL season, to be spent with the Black and Gold, on social media.

Once he was informed by the Broncos on March 4 that he would be released at the beginning of the league year, Wilson received an early start on free agency after gaining permission to speak with interested teams and making Pittsburgh the first stop on Friday.

The meeting proved fruitful, and the Steelers will now get an all-time bargain on one of the biggest difference-making options at QB available in this year’s free agency class.

Thanks to Denver paying most of the $39 million still owed to the QB for the upcoming season, Wilson was free to join the Steelers on the cheap and allow them to build around him more easily.

So long a dominant signal-caller in the NFL, Wilson’s transition from a decade in Seattle to the last two years spent in Denver did not go as planned.

The Broncos sputtered to just 5-12 in his first season there, as he threw for a career-low 16 touchdown passes with 11 interceptions while helming the league’s worst-ranked scoring unit.

He showed flashes of old under new head coach Sean Payton in 2023, but the Broncos still went under .500 (7-8) with him as a starter, and he never seemed a natural fit in the system. Denver made the call to bench him for the final two weeks of the season, a precursor to moving on from him months later despite having to eat $85 million in dead money.

Those developments might have put a damper on Wilson’s shine, and the 35-year-old isn’t as spry as he used to be, but there remains a long track record of excellence to be excited about ahead of his move to Pittsburgh.

Wilson, a one-time Super Bowl champion, has 43,653 passing yards, 334 touchdowns and 106 interceptions with a 100.0 career passer rating. Although there will be competition in the form of third-year QB Kenny Pickett, Wilson adds a dynamic not seen for the Steelers since Ben Roethlisberger — before the Pittsburgh legend started to lose his legs toward the end of his career.

Pickett, the No. 20 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, has gone 14-10 as a starter with a paltry 13 touchdowns to match his 13 interceptions. After recovering from injury, he stayed on the bench in favor of Mason Rudolph down the stretch and in the team’s wild-card playoff loss.

Hence, Pittsburgh’s now pivoting to give Wilson a shot.

Should he shake off the Denver years and deliver anything close to his previous highs, the Steelers have a roster capable of making a return trip to the postseason, even in a brutal AFC North, and perhaps going beyond wild-card weekend for the first time since 2017.