A Continuous Journey: 2024 NFL Offseason Thread

Russell to the Steelers? Oh boy this board just got really interesting

 

Malcolm Butler, who hasn't played a regular-season game since 2020 and hasn't put on an NFL uniform since the 2022 preseason, has officially retired. Or at least said he's moved on from football, which is being reported as him announcing his retirement. He'd been hedging over the past year on another comeback and had some tryouts that didn't pan out. Now he's 34, hasn't played a down in two years, and has a lot of other irons in the fire he seems ready to embrace.

For a guy who was a mid-level player he had a weirdly influential career in terms of NFL history. It's not a stretch at all to say he was the deciding factor in two Super Bowls and even in cementing Tom Brady's legacy as the greatest quarterback of all time.
He was involved in perhaps two of the 10 greatest plays in Super Bowl history on the same drive (his own game-clinching interception, and the insane juggling catch on the sideline by Jermaine Kearse a few plays earlier that everyone forgets about). Then a few years later he's the centerpiece of one of the NFL's great unsolved mysteries when he was benched against the Eagles in Super Bowl LII, which probably swayed the outcome of that game.

He won two Super Bowls, played seven seasons, made some decent free agent money, and got out of the game largely intact from a physical standpoint.
Not bad for a guy who by all rights should have had his football career end three or four times before he ever got a whiff of the NFL. He only played one season of high school football, then got kicked out of a junior college and had to claw his way back. He straightened up, wound up at a Division II college, signed as an undrafted free agent with the Patriots and made the team in training camp.
We've all heard a hundred stories like his, that don't end the way his is. That's a pretty remarkable career.

https://www.click2houston.com/sport...-on-super-bowl-legacy-controversial-benching/

 

Looks like Russ to the Steelers is happening.

 

At least Wilson >> Pickett (and Rudolph)

 

Obvious addition for a team that hates spending money on the position. Why not take a chance at the league minimum? Better culture and more stability should benefit him.

 

Tomlin won’t put up with half the nonsense that Russ got away with. And after floundering with the Broncos, he’s going to need to eat some humble pie. But this win for sure be good for him. Steelers even at their worst will be in playoff contention. There are weapons in the team. And with a one year deal, Russ can audition for another solid contract.

 

Man, I hate that Wilson deal for Pickett. Kid was put in a horrible position by the inept coaching. And the now the Steelers will be looking for another franchise QB in a year or two.

 

I never wanted Pickett with the Steelers because I knew what this franchise was and I definitely know what this fanbase is. I would have been perfectly happy to see him in Detroit with a visor and a clipboard for a couple of years. Meanwhile, it's going to be hilarious to watch yinzers melt down over what a friggin weirdo Wilson is.

 

I'm not sure where Tomlin got a reputation of a guy who won't put up with nonsense, but it doesn't reflect reality. He let Antonio Brown get away with nonsense. He let a number of players force their way out of town, which ended up weakening the team and helping the opposition. Just last season, he let George Pickens and Diontae Johnson get away with taking plays off and other nonsense with no consequences. Wilson will probably walk all over him, too.

 

I think they should have given him another season, at least with the opportunity to compete for the job, but that is realistically out the window. Unless Wilson sucks badly enough to get benched or gets hurt, Pickett won't get any such opportunity. After a year of him on the bench, it is tough to see them going into the 2025 season with him as the starter. It seems like this is pretty much the end for Pickett in Pittsburgh, which could be a mistake.

Either way, this leaves the Steelers looking for a quarterback in 2025 and for what? Maybe Wilson gets them in the playoffs, but I don't think it makes them a real contender with a shot at a championship, which should be the only reason to give up on a former first-rounder and sign a 35-year-old quarterback.

On the other hand, maybe Tomlin and the front office are convinced that Pickett doesn't have it. Maybe all that stuff about having confidence in him was just a negotiating tactic as they tried to re-sign Mason Rudolph. By the way, Rudolph would have been a better option, but I guess he wanted too much money or just wanted out.

 

Yup. You've got to think this ends any talk of Pickett being the guy. They just showed how little confidence they have in him.