It’s been feeling pretty clear for a few years now that Russell Wilson is nearing the end of his NFL career, but the sunset in South Florida is certainly a spectacle.
It wasn’t a split-screen moment Sunday afternoon, but it wasn’t hard to miss Russ re-emerging as the emergency quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who improved to 3-0 with Justin Fields taking the snaps. Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, the Miami Dolphins were suffering a blowout loss for the second straight week at the hands of Wilson’s former team, the Seattle Seahawks.
You can see that the dots are already being connected here.
Wilson’s calf injury virtually guaranteed the Steelers that Fields’ availability wouldn’t affect them, but as the 25-year-old Wilson slowly becomes more comfortable in an offense that better suits his skill set and continues to produce increasingly better results individually and as a team (including touchdowns by pass and run in Sunday’s win), the Steelers will likely be forced to assign him the QB1 title at some point. That was a much wiser conclusion, given that Fields and the 35-year-old Wilson are both free agents in 2025, with only one being the logical candidate to stick with the other long-term.
And even Pittsburgh’s sometimes surly head coach, Mike Tomlin, seems to be starting to like Fields.
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“He’s doing what we ask of him and playing to win,” he said after Sunday’s 20-10 win over the previously unbeaten Los Angeles Chargers. “So it’s a blessing.”
But Wilson’s value could also rise significantly.
We’re only three weeks into the 2024 season, and already several teams appear to be in the midst of a quarterback crisis — the Las Vegas Raiders and Tennessee Titans are likely examples — but a crisis could materialize at any moment anywhere in the league.
Now, on to the Dolphins.
After making the playoffs in each of coach Mike McDaniel’s first two years, Finland is now looking to make a run at championships and has invested heavily in its roster, forcing risky cost-cutting in some areas, most notably the four-year, $212.4 million ($167.2 million guaranteed) extension it gave to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in July. Of course, Tagovailoa, who was placed on injured reserve after a recent concussion, won’t be eligible to play again until Oct. 27 at the earliest, assuming his neurological condition and family support his return.
The Dolphins are coming off a humiliating 24-3 loss to Seattle on Sunday. They have lost their past two games by a combined score of 55-13. Backup quarterback Skylar Thompson was sidelined with a pectoral injury, but hadn’t been particularly productive prior to that. Journeyman Tim Boyle, who just returned from the practice squad, filled in.
When asked about the next step for the 1-2 team, McDaniel said, “I think we have to look at everything and figure out how to give our team the best chance to win.”
“We have to find ways to collectively be better.”
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Looking at the Dolphins’ woes in 2024, the specter of the 2023 New York Jets should serve as a warning. Maybe Boyle himself is getting a call to action after three terrible appearances with the Jets last season. Remember, the Jets were essentially counting on Aaron Rodgers being talented enough to hold out until his unrealistic return from a torn Achilles in Week 1. Meanwhile, talented playmakers like WR Garrett Wilson and RB Breece Hall struggled on a hobbled offense while the defense carried an excessive burden.
Similar issues have already surfaced in Miami, with WRs Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle and RB Devon Achan quickly becoming hood ornaments.
“We have a really good team and some great leaders that bring everybody together,” Hill said Sunday.
“We will have a captains’ meeting to see what needs to change and we will come back to the plan on Monday night.”
It would be nice to have a veteran passer with plenty of postseason experience, a player on an expiring contract playing for the veteran minimum, preferably one with a career completion rate near 65% who tends to protect the ball, and, given his recent experience with Sean Payton and the increasingly precarious status of being a recognized starter in this league, he might follow the manager’s playbook more closely than ever before.
Oh wait.
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Is Wilson a player in decline, especially with regards to mobility? Yes. Is it fair to say he’s perhaps less accurate and decisive compared to Tagovailoa? Yes. But despite Payton’s frustrations in Denver, Wilson has proven he can be a quality NFL starter with the Broncos in 2023 (26 TD passes, 98.0 QB rating) who knows getting the ball to his playmakers brings out his best. And he’s clearly desperate to win, to add another Lombardi Trophy to his recently tarnished legacy.
Wilson has repeatedly maintained that his calf is nearly ready to play, which naturally begs the question: Should the Steelers keep him as insurance behind Fields?
As of Sunday night, Pittsburgh was one of four teams at 3-0 and at least two games back in the AFC North standings, and the franchise recognizes the value of a player like Charlie Batch who can carry a team well for a month when their starting quarterback is out.
Wilson may be better than Batch, but Fields is no Terry Bradshaw or Ben Roethlisberger. Not yet, and probably never will be. And undefeated or not, this team doesn’t seem on the cusp of the city’s coveted “Seventh Step” that would be the most Super Bowl wins in franchise history.
Trading Wilson for a mid-round draft pick, for example, could mean filling a key position in the depth chart down the road or providing a last resort way to get a deal done if Fields isn’t the next quarterback, especially at a time when it’s clear the Steelers can’t naturally draft outside the top 5. A trade could also remove something that’s ultimately in Tomlin’s way.
The Steelers may stand out amid the NFL’s general early-season mediocrity, but they’re clearly a team trending in a positive direction. The Dolphins may actually have a better chance through the 2024 season, but only if they pursue a short-term solution like Wilson. But Miami may need Tagovailoa as a suspension bridge if he’s out indefinitely, especially considering it would be difficult for the Dolphins to re-enter the market for a young quarterback, whether through the draft or free agency.
And maybe such a change of address would allow Russ to “ride off into the sunset,” which would be more to his liking than the status quo of being sidelined in the final moments of his illustrious career.
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