Pittsburgh’s five-game losing streak to end the 2024 season hasn’t diminished Russell Wilson’s desire to re-sign with the Steelers this offseason.
Wilson, who had previously said that he “hoped” to remain with the Steelers beyond the 2024 season, reiterated that sentiment on Monday as the Steelers cleaned out their lockers. The veteran quarterback signed a one-year deal with Pittsburgh last offseason. He won six of his first seven starts for the Steelers before things came apart.
“That’s the plan,” Wilson said when he was asked if he wanted to re-sign with Pittsburgh. “Obviously, I love it here and everything else, and I think we have a great football team. Obviously, it didn’t go in the way we wanted it to. And I think there’s a lot more to do. And so, you know, I said to you guys before, I always just trust God and the process and all that.”
Wilson signed with the Steelers following a tumultuous two-year run with the Broncos. He started the 2024 season on the sideline after injuring his calf just before the start of training camp and re-aggravating the injury just before Week 1. With Wilson sidelined, backup (and fellow offseason acquisition Justin Fields) helped lead Pittsburgh to a surprising 4-2 start that included wins over the playoff-bound Broncos and Chargers.
Despite Fields’ success, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin anointed Wilson the starter for Pittsburgh’s Week 7 matchup against the New York Jets. After a slow start, Wilson and the Steelers’ offense erupted for 37 points as Pittsburgh rolled to a 22-point win.
Wilson would win his next three starts that included wins over the playoff-bound Ravens and Commanders. In Washington, Wilson threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Mike Williams in what was Pittsburgh’s most impressive win of the 2024 season.
Wilson suffered his first loss as a Steeler in Cleveland in Week 12, but Pittsburgh responded with consecutive wins over the Bengals and Browns to improve to 10-3. Against the Bengals, Wilson had one of his best statistical performances in years, throwing for 414 yards and three touchdowns and one interception while completing 76.3% of his passes.
Pittsburgh’s Week 14 win over the Browns would be its final win of the 2024 campaign. The Steelers would proceed to lose three games over an 11-day span, including blowout losses to Baltimore and Kansas City. Pittsburgh then lost its Week 18 showdown with Cincinnati before getting blasted by Ravens in the wild-card round. The loss marked the Steelers’ sixth consecutive loss in the postseason dating back to the 2016 AFC Championship game.
There were a lot of reasons why Pittsburgh fell apart, with the offense being a significant reason. The Steelers’ offense failed to score over 17 points in each of their final five games. Wilson threw for over 200 yards just once during that span. He also committed two costly errors (a pick-six in Baltimore in Week 16 and an interception in the end zone against the Chiefs in Week 17) that he alluded to on Monday.
“I thought I played well,” Wilson said when asked to assess his performance this season. “I wish I (could have) played a little bit better. I have two plays I wish I had back, to be honest with you. The one in Kansas City and the one Ravens game; just kind of put the ball inside. Other than that, those two plays in particular, I competed and gave it my all.”
Despite how the 2024 season ended, Wilson still has a considerable amount of confidence in the Steelers and what they’re capable of doing in 2025.
“I think missing is the wrong word,” Wilson said when asked about this past season’s shortcomings. “I just think that we’ve to recalibrate and get sharper on a couple things here and there, and continue to grow, continue to evolve.
“I think we’re young, especially on offense. We’ll continue to grow and all that. We weren’t able to finish, and we obviously didn’t start good enough in games. I think that’s it always helps us when you get ahead a little bit early. So we got to figure that part out.”
When asked why he wants to return to the Steelers, Wilson included Tomlin, who is expected to be back for the 2025 season.
“I just love the guys. I love the locker room. I love coach Tomlin,” he said. “Love who he is, you know. Obviously this is place that I think can win a lot. I think we have a championship caliber football team. Like I said, it didn’t go the way we wanted it to this year. But I I love playing football. I love playing the game. And, you know, if it works out that way, I’m excited to do that for the black and gold on again.
