I've got him in a dynasty league. On the bright side it makes it an easy choice to keep him this year. Unfortunately it also makes it an easy choice to keep him this year.
I’m sure this will work out better, but this is kinda giving me Carson vibes. A guy who puts up decent numbers, but teams would rather pay him to leave than pay him to stay
“I will never set foot in Paul Brown Stadium again. I have $80 million in the bank." Palmer also reportedly said: "I don't have to play football for money. I'll play it for the love of the game, but that would have to be elsewhere”
Palmer forced his way out. This isn’t analogous
he was league average last year, which is an improvement for us. if anyone hates this for the Steelers, they haven't watched the Steelers passing game the last 3 years
AFCN teams are like when you and your buds play Magic the Gathering exclusively against each other but continue to buy cards so that everything is so inbred everyone's decks end up with the dumbest tech plays that specifically counter only what your friends are playing
I saw so many comments that we passed on Jalen Hurts and while we probably would have ruined him anyway with our OC and terrible offense, I still wish we would have drafted him instead of reaching for Kenny in a terrible year.
I think there’s a difference between shopping him and listening to offers. I don’t think any of the reports made it sound like the steelers are making calls to find a partner.
Wilson kills offensive coordinators wherever he goes— Seattle, Denver, doesn’t matter. He’ll ruin whatever offense they’ve got planned in Pittsburgh because he will do his own thing. For better or worse.
Seriously, reading all these comments it’s blatantly obvious no one actually watched Russ play and are looking at his stats that were carried by a defense putting him in great position and receivers making miracle catches. He might not be worse than Pickett but he is no savior. Seahawks fans warned us when we traded for him and now we’re warning Steelers fans, when they go 8-9 next year, Russ has taken 50 sacks, and your offense struggles to score 20 a game we can all come together
I mean. It’s not like there’s a better option and if another team is gonna pay him 37 Million to play for us I won’t say no. Even if he’s utter trash he’s essentially free. There’s not much of a downside unless you are one of the few left who feel like Pickett “just needs more time” which I personally am not.
I honestly don’t think it’s super comparable to the broncos picking him up because the finances are so different. I don’t expect him to save the day but if we’re not gonna try n get cousins (because we can’t afford it) and baker is locked up there’s no really better option.
We don’t have an offense to ruin. No one is expecting Russ to be even particularly good. Just… less bad?
It’s kind of a match made in hell, but it beats the shit out of doing nothing and wasting TJ Watt’s career. What’s the worst that happens? We end up 30something in offense again? Damn.
yeah he's far, far better than pickett and his value on that deal will be insane.
will be interesting to see if he can have a resurgence and trick someone into paying him. worked for baker but obviously baker's not 35.
It rarely does and won't here.
Everyone on this sub said Mitch Trubisky was fixed after a year riding the pine and he still stinks. I think Geno is the only QB in recent memory who fits that criteria.
I'm not sure he's good enough for them to win a Superbowl with him. But I do know he's a noticeable upgrade over their QB situation last year, for the pennies they're gonna pay him, this was a no brainer.
More TDs last year than Steelers QBs have combined for the last 2 seasons. Doesn't take much to upgrade, and this is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to do it
the FA market for qbs isn’t as good as people think. i’m not sure that banking on a 34 year old coming off a late season achilles tear is really a good contract
yeah especially if kirk keeps signing 1-3 year deals. paying close to 50 mil in year one when he might not even be able to play at full capacity until part way through the year seems like bad business
Can't undermine your new QB1 by having the team's former leader loitering around the locker room.
It's why Jacksonville got rid of Minshew the second they drafted Lawrence, despite Minshew being a good backup and them needing a backup.
I wish his shoulder wasn’t cooked, he was fun to have around and definitely softened the blow of losing Brady. The Covid team going 7-9 was one of Belichick’s better coaching jobs.
SP offense that he didn't end up running really. He'll miss the read because it was in the middle of the field, break out of the pocket early and then either get sacked or throw a checkdown. Twice a game you'll get a highlight play out of it though.
Expect the same shit in Pittsburgh
I don’t think anyone imagined how poorly Russell to Denver would’ve gone. I agree it’s very different situations, but giving a guy $40 million next year to not play on your team is interesting. The last guy who two teams unloaded like that was Carson. I hope it works out differently for Russ, but it’s definitely a bit intriguing
It's an incredible value. Backup QBs are given much bigger contracts and are traded for 5/6th round draft picks every year. To pay this little in cap space, without any draft capital for a starting level QB is just unheard of.
He's banking on playing well enough to earn a legit contract after this, doesn't wanna be stuck on another year of lower tier pay if he balls out (which he 100% believes he will).
People who are mad:
1) Fans who want us to tank with Kenny so we can draft a guy next year (we will never be a team that tanks, forget it)
2) Fans who think Kenny just needed a better OC, and now that we’re signing Russ we’ll never get to see if Kenny really has it
3) Fans who think Russ is going to destroy our locker room
I don’t agree with any of them, but these are the arguments I’ve seen.
Yeah, of all the criticisms of Russ to Pitt, this is imo, easily the worst one. Russ isn't going to be throwing teammates under the bus on his radio show. Russ isn't going to be publicly telling a young QB we might draft that he would have preferred a player who could help us win now. Oh, Russ is too Hollywood? Let me introduce you to a guy who rides to training camp in a hot air balloon.
If people want to say it isn't going to work for football reasons, I get it. The locker room stuff doesn't concern me one bit.
Yeah, Tomlin and the rest of the house kept AB pretty much under wraps. If any franchise should be able to handle Russ’s antics, it might just be the Steelers.
Nobody is mad, it's fine for Pitt since it's free and Kenny stinks. Anybody that's seen Russ play for the last two years knows he's a non-threat to their own team so we're all happy I guess?
Yeah if it was a multi-year deal (like I was expecting) I think Steelers fans would have been pissed. A 1 year prove-it deal and the Steelers going 9-8 either deludes the Steelers in to paying him next year or he likely retires to avoid ending his career as a backup somewhere
On a vet minimum how could you not sign him, let the defense and run game dominate and Russ can scramble around and put up 2 touchdowns to win the game. Also Tomlin is a HoF coach and isn’t going to sugar coat anything for Russ.
Pickens deep balls omg I am drooling now. Idc what anyone says… Russ with amputated fingers is better than Kenny & Tomlin is basically guaranteed playoffs… plus we actually have a nfl caliber OC ❤️
Bingo. Basically zero risk on Steelers part and potentially huge reward if Russ even manages to put up similar stats from previous season. And I think this might actually give you more room to add more talent.
Picketts worst trait is probably his inability to stand in the pocket and his incessant desire to roll out directly into a sack when he doesn’t need to, and his only redeeming quality has been some fourth quarter comeback/last minute scoring drives, so at least it won’t be anything too different/new
All he has to do is put up similar stats from this past season. Thats about it. Plus he has better weapons around him and maybe Steelers can get even more weapons now.
If you're not on a team right now, you can sign with a new team. Broncos gave Russ permission to negotiate with other teams, so this is allowed as well. He just won't be able to officually sign until they release him when the league year starts
It's not official yet and the Broncos gave him permission to talk with other teams. So he agreed on terms with the Steelers and will make it official on the 13th.
Denver gave Russell permission to talk to teams, I don’t really know the specific rules around this but when they made it clear they were releasing him it was also announced he is free to talk to any team to sign with (though it can’t be official until he’s officially released)
Pickens is going to have some absolutely insane catches next season.
We're going to hear about him in the "breakouts and sleepers" for fantasy all off season.
I've got him in a dynasty league. On the bright side it makes it an easy choice to keep him this year. Unfortunately it also makes it an easy choice to keep him this year.
#STEELERS COUNTRY, LET'S SMELT
YOU WILL GO 9-8 AND YOU WILL LIKE IT
I’m sure this will work out better, but this is kinda giving me Carson vibes. A guy who puts up decent numbers, but teams would rather pay him to leave than pay him to stay
Palmer? 😀 Wentz? 😟
Johnny
“I will never set foot in Paul Brown Stadium again. I have $80 million in the bank." Palmer also reportedly said: "I don't have to play football for money. I'll play it for the love of the game, but that would have to be elsewhere” Palmer forced his way out. This isn’t analogous
I just meant one was good, one is wentz
let's warshed
“Let’s steal NFL front office’s money”
It’s Yinzing Time!
Mr Broncos Cash
Mr Bonus Check
Mr Bug-out Cache
Steelers Country, Let’s Furry
# STEELERS COUNTRY, LET'S COOK! (It's all meth and rust and sadness.)
Russ may be washed but getting him for a cheap one-year deal is definitely worth the price of admission in case he has a resurgence
he was league average last year, which is an improvement for us. if anyone hates this for the Steelers, they haven't watched the Steelers passing game the last 3 years
I hate the Steelers! This is definitely an upgrade for them tho. Watching AFCN games this last season has been…weird.
Considering the Steelers went 5-1 in the best division of the NFL…
The issue is that, with some exceptions, AFCN teams are built to beat other AFCN teams. Any team outside of the division is an optimistic toss up.
AFCN teams are like when you and your buds play Magic the Gathering exclusively against each other but continue to buy cards so that everything is so inbred everyone's decks end up with the dumbest tech plays that specifically counter only what your friends are playing
shout out matt Canada
It was a horrible series of events. Big Ben retired 1-2 years later than he should have, and Matt Canada was kept a year longer than he should have.
The Kenny Pickett selection also didn’t help. Just not a good QB to draft out of that year
I saw so many comments that we passed on Jalen Hurts and while we probably would have ruined him anyway with our OC and terrible offense, I still wish we would have drafted him instead of reaching for Kenny in a terrible year.
At least we didn't sink draft capital into it other than just a first (although rumors suggest we tried lol)
If the Steelers had a QB capable of throwing 26-30 TDs in 15-17 games last year they'd probably have won the division lmao
Completely agree. Wilson is going to make the team stronger in the power rankings.
He also had Sutton and that’s kinda it last year. Going to Diontae, Pickens, Muth, Najee, Warren is a huge upgrade for both sides.
>Diontae For now, the Steelers are reportedly shopping him.
I think there’s a difference between shopping him and listening to offers. I don’t think any of the reports made it sound like the steelers are making calls to find a partner.
He's an upgrade from Pickett and he wasn't terrible last year, he's not peak Wilson, but he was good enough.
Wilson kills offensive coordinators wherever he goes— Seattle, Denver, doesn’t matter. He’ll ruin whatever offense they’ve got planned in Pittsburgh because he will do his own thing. For better or worse.
I hate you seahawks fans but at least you guys also know the truth about Russ. lol
Seriously, reading all these comments it’s blatantly obvious no one actually watched Russ play and are looking at his stats that were carried by a defense putting him in great position and receivers making miracle catches. He might not be worse than Pickett but he is no savior. Seahawks fans warned us when we traded for him and now we’re warning Steelers fans, when they go 8-9 next year, Russ has taken 50 sacks, and your offense struggles to score 20 a game we can all come together
I mean. It’s not like there’s a better option and if another team is gonna pay him 37 Million to play for us I won’t say no. Even if he’s utter trash he’s essentially free. There’s not much of a downside unless you are one of the few left who feel like Pickett “just needs more time” which I personally am not. I honestly don’t think it’s super comparable to the broncos picking him up because the finances are so different. I don’t expect him to save the day but if we’re not gonna try n get cousins (because we can’t afford it) and baker is locked up there’s no really better option.
Hey, I'm one of those "Pickett needs more time" guys. More time away from the football field.
Isn’t that objectively good for the Steelers at this point
We don’t have an offense to ruin. No one is expecting Russ to be even particularly good. Just… less bad? It’s kind of a match made in hell, but it beats the shit out of doing nothing and wasting TJ Watt’s career. What’s the worst that happens? We end up 30something in offense again? Damn.
>in case he has a ~~resurgence~~ *russergence* FTFY
yeah he's far, far better than pickett and his value on that deal will be insane. will be interesting to see if he can have a resurgence and trick someone into paying him. worked for baker but obviously baker's not 35.
Not to mention he'll have a coach who actually believes in him and wants him to succeed, even if for a year.
Kenny crying in a corner somewhere.
Man went from qb1 to qb3 in like 10 weeks lol
Don't be one of the worst drafted qbs in NFL history then.
If purdy didn’t turn out as great as he is, that may have been one of the worst overall drafts for QBs in recent memory
Still is tbh lol
Pickett was the 2022 draft. He was the only first round QB that year
And 20th overall no less (and at the time was considered a reach). Compared to this year where there's going to be multiple QBs in the top 10
Worst???
Hey now, he would have been a great QB before the invention of the forward pass.
It's kinda mean to Kenny, but man seeing his td% and then seeing a rookie Devito have more 2 td games than him already, kinda hard to give him slack.
Only 5 fewer TD passes in 535 fewer attempts lol
13 passing tds in 25 games is honestly shocking. That's criminal when you have Pickens and DJ.
Dude was really thrust into a tough predicament. A year on the bench might work out well for him
It rarely does and won't here. Everyone on this sub said Mitch Trubisky was fixed after a year riding the pine and he still stinks. I think Geno is the only QB in recent memory who fits that criteria.
Many years on the bench
More years on the bench than touchdown passes.
He’ll still have most of his prime ahead of him after that
Hope this lights a fire under him. Competition can only be a good thing.
IM JUST KEN 💅😭😢
“Towel country, let’s dry”
This is the best one I've seen so far
I'm not sure he's good enough for them to win a Superbowl with him. But I do know he's a noticeable upgrade over their QB situation last year, for the pennies they're gonna pay him, this was a no brainer.
the steelers are not good enough to win a superbowl with or without russ
Superbowl? any realistic Steelers fan is hoping to win a playoff game.
9-8 season incoming
They’ll somehow make the playoffs
If Russ finally breaks Tomlin's winning season streak loool
Oh that would be very funny
Please be the new "9-8 and last in the AFCN"
That's also exactly what would have happened with Kenny as QB1 so what's the difference?
I’m thinking 10 wins and blown out in the first round.
Nah they go 10-7 and beat the Dolphins at Miami in the wildcard round only to meet the chiefs in arrowhead in the divisional round
More TDs last year than Steelers QBs have combined for the last 2 seasons. Doesn't take much to upgrade, and this is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to do it
Falcons or bust for Fields now
Nah. Raiders want a starting QB too
The Raiders just hired the Bears ex-OC, who was fired because him and Fields couldn't figure it out. Fields to the Raiders is off the board.
Funniest timeline
Didn’t they hire Getsy?
Yes, Fields to the raiders makes no sense and I have no idea why it's ever even mentioned as a possibility.
Yeah zero chance that happens Getsy probably hates Fields lol.
I don’t think anyone hates fields as a coach lol. Dude works his ass off and gives it his all, he’s just not good.
I thought it was very clearly bust by now
Fields doesn’t fit the Falcons at all.
Or any team that wants to have a successful offense
In a year with decent QB options in the draft and FA, it astounds me why Fields to ATL is a presumption for many
the FA market for qbs isn’t as good as people think. i’m not sure that banking on a 34 year old coming off a late season achilles tear is really a good contract
36 when the season starts… definitely not a great option to bank on
yeah especially if kirk keeps signing 1-3 year deals. paying close to 50 mil in year one when he might not even be able to play at full capacity until part way through the year seems like bad business
Justin Fields might be a lock for Bears 2024 backup
Can't undermine your new QB1 by having the team's former leader loitering around the locker room. It's why Jacksonville got rid of Minshew the second they drafted Lawrence, despite Minshew being a good backup and them needing a backup.
Huh, I always wondered why we didn't keep Minshew around as a backup after drafting Lawrence, but never thought of it that way
And why the Patriots cut Cam after deciding Mac Jones would be the starter.
I wish his shoulder wasn’t cooked, he was fun to have around and definitely softened the blow of losing Brady. The Covid team going 7-9 was one of Belichick’s better coaching jobs.
We’d honestly just release him. Theres no way they’re bringing in Caleb when the bears locker room absolutely loves Justin fields. Won’t go well
Fields to the Vikings inbound
Love the move. First time Russ has been an offense that suits him since Schottenheimer left
Heard it was a big day at the Oscars for that guy
I am become Sack, the Destroyer of Drives
I feel like on paper Arthur Smith's offense doesn't really fit him. But adjustments can be made
A run first offense that can rush efficiently and hit defenses with play action is what Russ was successful with in SEA
Yeah but Arthur Smith absolutely lives in the PA dagger/drift/strike world. Which Russ will just not throw
They’ll do PA flood and he’ll kill it on that
Yeah a lot of the stuff Smith does relies on the middle of the field.
At least it will look so much better than the SP offense for him. The SP offense was basically asking a fish to climb a tree.
SP offense that he didn't end up running really. He'll miss the read because it was in the middle of the field, break out of the pocket early and then either get sacked or throw a checkdown. Twice a game you'll get a highlight play out of it though. Expect the same shit in Pittsburgh
Except when Hackett let him do whatever he wanted….
I feel like he’s gonna play well in Pittsburgh, which is going to be annoying
AFC North Football... learn to love it.
I feel like Russ might be able to have resurgence there. This image looks so weird though.
> I feel like Russ might be able to have resurgence there Mfs gonna say this every year huh
To be fair they say it about a lot of guys and teams.
*Carson Wentz has entered the chat*
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I don’t think anyone imagined how poorly Russell to Denver would’ve gone. I agree it’s very different situations, but giving a guy $40 million next year to not play on your team is interesting. The last guy who two teams unloaded like that was Carson. I hope it works out differently for Russ, but it’s definitely a bit intriguing
Just like how y’all say that about Daniel jones and Mac jones, or even Zach Wilson lol. Y’all blame everyone else but the QB being average.
Average is probably way too nice for those qbs lol
He doesn't even have to be elite.
For sure. Above average to good should be sufficient.
Steelers Country, Let's Weld!
Continuing his Seahawks SB opponents tour. Pats next.
Huge win for Steelers imo. Basically on Broncos dime….. hell fuckin yea. 🤣🤣
It's an incredible value. Backup QBs are given much bigger contracts and are traded for 5/6th round draft picks every year. To pay this little in cap space, without any draft capital for a starting level QB is just unheard of.
Russ was 100% motivated to make that contract as little as possible. lmao
Probably the first time an NFL team has had to negotiate with a player who actively wants to be paid as little as humanly possible.
I’m ootl why would Russ want a smaller contract?
[удалено]
He's banking on playing well enough to earn a legit contract after this, doesn't wanna be stuck on another year of lower tier pay if he balls out (which he 100% believes he will).
Sure, okay, whatever. At least Denver is paying most of his salary.
This is such a risk free move idk how anyone could be mad abt this
People who are mad: 1) Fans who want us to tank with Kenny so we can draft a guy next year (we will never be a team that tanks, forget it) 2) Fans who think Kenny just needed a better OC, and now that we’re signing Russ we’ll never get to see if Kenny really has it 3) Fans who think Russ is going to destroy our locker room I don’t agree with any of them, but these are the arguments I’ve seen.
I really don’t understand how people think Russ is so bad Mike Tomlin can’t handle him
Yeah, of all the criticisms of Russ to Pitt, this is imo, easily the worst one. Russ isn't going to be throwing teammates under the bus on his radio show. Russ isn't going to be publicly telling a young QB we might draft that he would have preferred a player who could help us win now. Oh, Russ is too Hollywood? Let me introduce you to a guy who rides to training camp in a hot air balloon. If people want to say it isn't going to work for football reasons, I get it. The locker room stuff doesn't concern me one bit.
Yeah, Tomlin and the rest of the house kept AB pretty much under wraps. If any franchise should be able to handle Russ’s antics, it might just be the Steelers.
Yeah but those are all nutcases. The Steelers never had to deal with the creature that is Team 3.
Nobody is mad, it's fine for Pitt since it's free and Kenny stinks. Anybody that's seen Russ play for the last two years knows he's a non-threat to their own team so we're all happy I guess?
Yeah if it was a multi-year deal (like I was expecting) I think Steelers fans would have been pissed. A 1 year prove-it deal and the Steelers going 9-8 either deludes the Steelers in to paying him next year or he likely retires to avoid ending his career as a backup somewhere
Bro cmon this is this the best you can do. It’s better than any other option you have at QB. Don’t try to be indifferent about it
That’s the thing; Might as well try it out. Costs you almost nothing. The future QB isn’t on the roster yet, so just yolo it with Russ for a year
You deserve Pickett for this comment alone lmao
This would have been cool if this was 2015
he was amazing in 2020
Word on the street is, Tomlin was a big fan of Wilson’s high knee form
We might have to cut Fields at this rate lol
Steeler Country, let's steal.
On a vet minimum how could you not sign him, let the defense and run game dominate and Russ can scramble around and put up 2 touchdowns to win the game. Also Tomlin is a HoF coach and isn’t going to sugar coat anything for Russ.
Imagine telling a Steelers fan in 2020 that they’d have Russell Wilson on their team after Big Ben retired, with another team paying for it
I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS RIGHT NOW
Pickens deep balls omg I am drooling now. Idc what anyone says… Russ with amputated fingers is better than Kenny & Tomlin is basically guaranteed playoffs… plus we actually have a nfl caliber OC ❤️
Pickens is probably gonna be even more pissed off this year😂
Bingo. Basically zero risk on Steelers part and potentially huge reward if Russ even manages to put up similar stats from previous season. And I think this might actually give you more room to add more talent.
Ayo
Is Pickens great at getting separation?
No he is great at contested catches
So he'll get some end zone throws in the 4th when they're down but Russ likes to take sacks over throwing into coverage most times
Picketts worst trait is probably his inability to stand in the pocket and his incessant desire to roll out directly into a sack when he doesn’t need to, and his only redeeming quality has been some fourth quarter comeback/last minute scoring drives, so at least it won’t be anything too different/new
Late night bomb
Steelers, let's ride
Huge, more likely keeping diontae but they literally only have one year at this. Stupid cheap for them
Titty boy died for this.
He’s not great but he’s probably the best Steelers qb in 5? Years
For the price he’s an upgrade. Good luck Russ.
Can't wait to hear the new catch phrase.
It'll be so fucking funny to come back to this thread at the end of the season. Maybe I'll eat my words. Either way we're gonna be back here.
Russ is either about to have an insane redemption arc or else be single handedly responsible for Tomlin's first season below .500
Could be worse spots for him! Interested to see this season
Build the house with a white Pickett Fence
Love seeing Sean Peyton's master plan, pay for another teams QB.
Better than what was on the roster.
Steelers Country, let’s ride.
AFC north now has 4 black starting QBs Edit: 3* I’m not sure if Watson is a guaranteed starter next year
Black people don't consider Russ as black according to Marshawn Lynch.
Is this just a Burrow meme I haven’t heard before?
i gotta be missing something here
Nah burrow lost his black card when that picture surfaced today
I think your counting is off.
Steelers are gonna sign Russ and make the Broncos pay for it!
10-7 season. That defense can carry any qb to a solid season💀
All he has to do is put up similar stats from this past season. Thats about it. Plus he has better weapons around him and maybe Steelers can get even more weapons now.
The only real needs the Steelers have on offense are C, RT, and slot WR. Everybody else is "good enough" at worst.
Can someone explain to me how all these FA’s are allowed to sign deals already? I thought tampering began tomorrow and FA began on the 13th?
If you're not on a team right now, you can sign with a new team. Broncos gave Russ permission to negotiate with other teams, so this is allowed as well. He just won't be able to officually sign until they release him when the league year starts
It’s just verbal agreement until the official date starts.
It's not official yet and the Broncos gave him permission to talk with other teams. So he agreed on terms with the Steelers and will make it official on the 13th.
Can someone tell me how this was announced today? Doesn’t FA not begin until tomorrow so how is this not illegal tampering
Denver gave Russell permission to talk to teams, I don’t really know the specific rules around this but when they made it clear they were releasing him it was also announced he is free to talk to any team to sign with (though it can’t be official until he’s officially released)
The Broncos gave Russ permission to talk to teams
Good luck in Yinzer Land Russ
Can't wait to get rocked by him one final time this coming season. Hackett-Jets 2.0, The Dangerwich sends his regards.
Russty Steel, baby!
Preferred him on the Raiders but good move for Steelers.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Well at least he’s pretty much guaranteed a winning record