Steelers fans were convinced their team's quarterback situation in 2024 was enough to finally end the distasteful playoff drought in Pittsburgh. It was not. Mike Tomlin made the curious decision to bench Justin Fields for a 36-year-old Russell Wilson, and things fell apart late in the year as Pittsburgh lost their final five games while scoring 14 points per contest.
The NFL showed us in 2024, that aging quarterbacks are hardly the way to go. Wilson crumbled down the stretch, Kirk Cousins' arm looked shot before he was benched for a rookie, and Aaron Rodgers looks like he has nothing left in the tank.
But there was a reclamation project who had a better season than anyone could have imagined.
Over in Minnesota, journeyman Sam Darnold racked up 35 touchdown passes and over 4,300 passing yards while leading his team to an outstanding 14-3 regular-season record. Remarkably, Darnold's regular-season performance included more passing touchdowns than a Steelers quarterback has ever thrown in a single season.
Darnold's performance will not only prompt a lucrative payday in free agency, but it also has teams itching for the next big reclamation project. There's one prospect who's so far out there, it just might work.
Steelers should sign QB Zach Wilson
I already know where your head is going, but allow me to explain. Yes, Zach Wilson was a disaster early in his career. As a raw rookie out of BYU, Wilson was thrown to the wolves on a bad New York Jets team. This resulted in a 3-10 record in his first season to go with nine touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
In Year 2, Wilson put up underwhelming but averaged 7.0 yards per attempt while leading his team to a 5-4 record before getting benched. Then, in his third season, Wilson had eight touchdowns and seven interceptions to go with 2,271 yards in 11 starts.
There's no chance Wilson's early-career stats are going to convince you that he's a worthwhile reclamation project. But his career path isn't much different from Sam Darnold's.
Darnold also started his NFL career as a first-round pick in a sad Jets organization. He went 13-25 in his first three seasons as a starter (compared to 12-21 for Wilson) while having a nearly 1:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio (49 to 39). Darnold even had a pitiful fourth season on the Panthers before being demoted to a backup in Carolina and San Francisco in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
While it's a longshot to think Wilson could turn his career around, there's a reason he was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. At 6'2 1/4'' and 214 pounds, Wilson has good size and a live arm to make every NFL throw. This was on display at times early in his career.
At 25 years old, Wilson is still just a matter of months younger than Michael Penix Jr. and teammate Bo Nix—two players who were selected in the top 12 picks of the 2024 NFL Draft.
I/m not going to lie: the worst that could happen for the Steelers is bad. Wilson could look like the poor decision-maker he was early in his Jets career and snap Pittsburgh's non-losing record streak. But even if this happens, the Steelers would finally find themselves in a position to select a franchise quarterback in 2026.
The best that could happen is that the young, talented quarterback finds new life in a new setting and proves to be another successful NFL reclamation project.
The Steelers have tried drafting a prospect with low upside (Kenny Pickett) and streaming an aging veteran (Russell Wilson). What's the worst that could happen by gambling on a highly-talented, polarizing QB itching for another chance?