The mystery over who will be starting at quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025 may have been solved. News broke last week that the Steelers acquired DK Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for a second-round pick in this year’s NFL draft. The clubs will also be swapping some late-round picks as part of the deal.
The Steelers have four quarterbacks on their roster, but only one of them is signed through next season. That is Skylar Thompson, who has appeared in just ten NFL games over two seasons and has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns.
Two of the others – Justin Fields and Seahawks' legend Russell Wilson – shared starting duties last year, and the common wisdom has been that GM Omar Khan would be choosing between one of them to ink to a multi-year contract going forward.
Could former Seahawks DK Metcalf and Russell Wilson reunite with the Steelers?
Khan could decide to go in a completely different direction and look for a different signal caller in free agency, or else take his chances on a rookie in the upcoming draft, but neither course ever seemed especially likely. Now that the trade for Metcalf has been announced, it appears that Russell Wilson will be the QB Mike Tomlin hopes to have running his team in the upcoming season.
Wilson always looked to be the front-runner. Tomlin initially chose him as his starter in 2024, but an injury opened the door for Fields. Once Wilson was healthy, he took over. On paper, the two quarterbacks performed about the same last year. But the Steelers' offense looked a little more explosive under Wilson. He can no longer run as well as Fields, but his passing, particularly on deep throws, is better.
Of course, calling a recent Steelers offense “explosive” seems like a contradiction. They were in the middle of the pack last year in scoring and well below average in total yards and passing yards. They relied heavily on the running of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren.
Now that Metcalf will be joining George Pickens, whoever is under center will have two tall, explosive receivers to target. That is if Pittsburgh doesn’t now look to move Pickens. There has been plenty of speculation that they will shop the former Georgia Bulldog, who enters the final year of his rookie deal this season.
Metcalf, Pickens, and tight end Pat Freiermuth would be a formidable challenge for any defense in 2025 if the Steelers keep them intact. Even if they deal Pickens, a reunion of Metcalf with Wilson could be fun to watch. Though both players had solid years in 2023, their best sustained success may have come in 2020-2021, when they were teammates in Seattle.
Metcalf caught more than 150 balls for over 2,000 yards and scored 22 touchdowns over that two-year span. Wilson threw 65 touchdowns against just 19 interceptions and made the Pro Bowl both years.
There is no guarantee that Pittsburgh made this deal with the intention of re-signing Wilson, nor is there any certainty that the quarterback wants to remain in Pittsburgh. Maybe the Steelers will actually sign quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and Wilson will have no home. But a Metcalf and Wilson reunion sure would be, well...interesting.