Signing Russell Wilson would confirm this belief about the Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the most storied franchises in not only the NFL but in all of sports. The team has won 6 Lombardi Trophies and is known as one with a championship culture.

However, some have begun to question this in recent years, as the team has become a perennial above .500 team that either barely misses the playoffs or gets bounced in the first round. The way they have piecemealed things at the quarterback position is part of why people believe this, and one move in particular this year would confirm this.

Russell Wilson is not the difference-maker that elevates the Steelers

The Steelers' concern has always been with bringing home Lombardi Trophies, but it now appears that they are more concerned with remaining competitive, staying over .500, and having a shot at the postseason.

Signing Russell Wilson would confirm this, as he does improve the Steelers right now, but not enough. Russell Wilson is a band-aid for the Steelers that will let them play better this year in the regular season, and have a slightly improved record. However, he is not the Russell Wilson of old, and the Steelers are still no more than an early playoff exit with him.

The AFC is the most loaded it has ever been at quarterback, with Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, CJ Stroud, Justin Herbert, and Trevor Lawrence as a few of the starters in the conference. Middling quarterback play won't cut it come the postseason, so signing Wilson is a foolish move.

This move makes sense from a financial aspect because he will likely only make the league minimum since the Broncos are paying him already. But, from a team aspect, this essentially keeps the Steelers in neutral from where they already are. Right now they are a good team, but without an elite quarterback, their upside is capped. Signing a veteran quarterback, past his prime, to become your starter is not the way to reopen their Super Bowl window.

Kenny Pickett deserves one more shot

While my opinion on Kenny Pickett's chances of being the franchise quarterback has undoubtedly taken a massive hit since the beginning of last year, I think he deserves one last chance at the job. He has not lived up to what the Steelers hoped he would be, but he did have Matt Canada as his offensive coordinator, who nobody argues was near the bottom five in the league in play-calling.

This is not an excuse for Pickett, as he deserves his share of blame as well. However, in the game and a half he played without Canada as the O.C., before getting hurt, Pickett played some of his best football of last year. With a new man calling plays in Arthur Smith, it would be foolish not to at least give Pickett a chance to prove he is the guy you spent the 20th overall selection on just two years ago.

Smith's offenses are run-centric, which should help take some pressure off Pickett, and make things easier for him. Add in some play action, and the utilization of the middle of the field, and you have two things that this offense, avoided last year, and hopefully, you will see the best version of Pickett.

If Pickett proves he is not the guy, the Steelers can draft their new franchise guy next offseason or look for a veteran who may be available via trade, like Justin Fields is this year. I don't believe the Steelers should make a move for Fields this season either for the above reasons, but he would make more sense to go after than Wilson because at least he has long-term upside and could raise the Steelers' ceiling.

To become a true championship contender again the Steelers need a young quarterback to lead them there. The majority of the top quarterbacks in the league are high draft picks, and because the Steelers have been consistently good but not great they have been unable to draft high enough to secure one of these top guys. This year they find out if Pickett is that guy, but if he's not they need to be willing to embrace a bad season to be great for a long time.

Only the future knows what happens between the Steelers and Russell Wilson. But, one thing is certain, he does not move the needle enough for the Steelers to justify signing him as the starter. If the Steelers do bring him in as their starting quarterback, then they are admitting that they care more about the playoffs than doing what it takes to become a true championship contender.