The quarterback situation surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers is one of the biggest talking points early in the offseason. The two front runners to quarterback the Steelers next season are Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Analysts and media members have tossed around names like Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, and Sam Darnold for potential starters, but those seem less likely. One media member, Rich Eisen, said he believes Pittsburgh’s starter next season will be Wilson.
On The Rich Eisen Show yesterday, Eisen was asked who is likelier to have a winning record next season, Wilson or Rodgers.
“I’ll go with the guy who’s gonna play for [Mike] Tomlin, who hasn’t had a losing season in forever,” said Eisen. “I don’t know; I have a feeling they’ll bring him [Wilson] back.”
Eisen made it clear that he isn’t reporting that Russell Wilson is a frontrunner to come back but that it is a feeling he returns. It is hard to disagree with Eisen. It’s no secret that Wilson and head coach Mike Tomlin have a good relationship and that Tomlin respects Wilson a lot.
Despite Fields going 4-2 to start the season and Tomlin describing Fields’ play as “really good,” Tomlin still turned to Wilson once he was healthy. At first, it looked like Tomlin made the right decision. Wilson’s first two performances against the New York Jets and Giants were better than any of Fields’ performances. Still, as the season continued, it seemed that teams were able to figure out Russell Wilson and limit his game to completing a few moonballs here and there.
Even as Pittsburgh lost their final four regular-season games with an offense that looked lifeless and failed to score more than 17 points, Tomlin stuck with Russell Wilson. Despite promises of unleashing the “Justin Fields Package,” Fields saw limited playing time in the Steelers’ final five games.
With free agency quickly approaching, the Steelers will have to make a decision regarding the quarterback position. Until Pittsburgh makes their decision, we can debate all day who will start next season, but one thing’s for sure: Eisen believes Russell Wilson will start for the Steelers next season, and it’s hard to blame him.
