Russell Wilson free agent rumors: Steelers unlikely to re-sign ...

While anything is possible, it does not appear that Russell Wilson will be back with the Steelers in 2025. Several reports have surfaced over the past month detailing Wilson's less than ideal working relationship with offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporting earlier this week that Smith took away Wilson's ability to call audibles following the Steelers' Week 13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. 

The Post-Gazette's report would suggest that it was Smith's fault that the offense went into a tailspin after scoring 37 of the team's 44 points in Cincinnati. But DKPittsburghSports has since reported that Smith did not take away Wilson's ability to audible, and that was drummed up by Wilson's camp in an effort to save face after the Steelers lost their final five games with him under center. 

Regarding his future in Pittsburgh, DKPittsburghSports has also reported that there is "no chance" that Wilson re-signs despite Steelers president Art Rooney II recently telling the media that his preference would be to re-sign either Wilson or Justin Fields, who went 4-2 in his six starts in 2024. 

Regardless of which report you believe, the facts are that the Steelers offense struggled mightily during the season's final five games. The Steelers failed to score over 17 points in each of those losses, a stretch of futility that hadn't previously been seen in Pittsburgh since 1969, Chuck Noll's first season as Steelers head coach. 

Some of the offense's issues down the stretch have to fall on Wilson's shoulders. He held onto the ball too long, struggled to complete intermediate throws and was unable to complete enough of his patented "moon" balls. He also committed several critical turnovers that included his fumble and pick six in Pittsburgh's Week 16 loss in Baltimore and his interception in the end zone during the following week's loss to the Chiefs. 

Wilson's supporters can point to the fact that Pittsburgh's running game struggled down the stretch, which was a byproduct of a young offensive line (that included two rookie starters) hitting the proverbial wall. It also didn't help that the receiving corps lacked the proven veteran the Steelers unsuccessfully tried to acquire right up until the trade deadline (they did trade for Mike Williams, but he didn't provide the impact they had surely hoped that he would). 

At this point, it appears that Wilson has likely played his final down for the Steelers. That could change, however, if the Steelers are unable to re-sign Fields, who may decide to test the open market for the first time in his career. Fields has stated that he wants to re-sign with Pittsburgh, though, so as long as the two sides can come to terms on a contract, the odds of Fields coming back in 2025 look pretty good. 

Either way, the Steelers need to figure out what went wrong at the end of the 2024 season, starting with the offensive side of the ball. Pittsburgh will also surely look to make upgrades on the defensive line after getting run over by Baltimore to the tune of 299 yards on the ground in the AFC wild-card round.