Russell Wilson on Sunday addressed the possibility of winding up with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025 and reuniting with coach Pete Carroll.
Wilson largely dodged questions about his future when speaking to the media at the Pro Bowl Games on Saturday. He predicted that Carroll would be successful with the Raiders, but said his focus right now is on remaining with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I’m looking forward to hopefully going back to the Steelers and we’ll see what happens with the rest,” Wilson told Mark Long of The Associated Press. “I love it in Pittsburgh.
“Pete’s going to be a great coach, obviously. He’s great at what he does. But I’m focused on the Steelers.”
For Wilson, the big question is whether the Steelers want him back or not. Some reports have suggested that they prefer Justin Fields to Wilson going forward, which would leave the veteran searching for a new team. The Raiders are an obvious possibility in that scenario, as it has been reported that the issues that plagued Carroll and Wilson at the end of Wilson’s Seahawks tenure have been left in the past.
Wilson threw for 2,482 yards with 16 touchdowns and five interceptions in 11 starts for the Steelers this season. Both he and the team faded badly down the stretch, raising serious questions about his future.
Russell Wilson’s end-of-season performance continued a struggle for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the quarterback position. And, according to one Steelers insider, his play deteriorated throughout practice time late in the year.
Pittsburgh Steelers insider shares alarming Russell Wilson practice stories
Brooke Pryor of ESPN stated that Wilson’s play in practices late in the year was exceedingly poor, and while he was positive in public, his struggles were exacerbated as time went along.
“Towards the end of the season, the practices at Acrisure Stadium before the playoff game, I just remember watching Russ and thinking, ‘This is not good,’” Pryor said on the Shek Show podcast. “He did not look good. He was making mistakes, he was throwing picks. I felt like the defense was gonna put up a bigger fight based on what I was seeing in practice. I felt like Russ kind of went over a cliff at some point in the season in that five-game losing streak. And no matter how much positivity he’s preaching, the actions didn’t back up the words. It just snowballed.”
Wilson’s stats look sterling, but his last five games he struggled greatly. The Steelers were hoping to extend Wilson, but it certainly seems that the arrow is now pointing more towards Justin Fields returning and getting the starting spot for the 2025 season than it is shelling out a big contract to a 36-year-old Wilson was rocky down the stretch.