- Russell Wilson is favored to be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 Week 1 starter.
- The Denver Broncos are preparing to release Wilson before his contract becomes fully guaranteed on March 17.
- Steelers’ GM Omar Khan is open to QB competition for the starting role.
Denver Broncos’ QB Russell Wilson is expected to be on the move only two years after signing a five-year, $245 million extension. According to BetOnline, the Las Vegas Raiders are now the favorites to sign Super Bowl-winning signal caller. However, he is also favored to start for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1 of the 2024 season.
Currently, the Raiders are available at +150 to be Wilson’s next team. Put differently, there’s an implied probability of 40% for the former Seattle Seahawk to make the move. With the Raiders’ QB situation in question, Wilson in Las Vegas could make for the perfect move.
Interestingly, however, Wilson is the favorite to be the Steelers starting QB in Week 1 of the 2024 NFL Season. BetOnline offers even odds for the star to start for Pittsburgh in Week 1, which equals a 50% probability.
Wilson Leads Pickett, Fields For Steelers’ Starting Job
BetOnline has eight options for who could be the Steelers’ Week 1 regular season starter in 2024. Wilson has the best chance, while Kenny Pickett (+300) and Justin Fields (+325) have second and third-shortest odds.
Baker Mayfield (+700), Ryan Tannehill (+900), Kirk Cousins (+1000), and Mason Rudolph (+2000) are all long shots to play for the Steelers in Week 1. The two QBs who started for Pittsburgh in 2023 both have unfavorable odds.
Pickett, who was the Steelers’ Week 1 starter in 2023, has an implied probability to start at just 25%. In his second season after being drafted in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Pickett passed for 2,070 yards, six touchdowns, and four interceptions on 62% completions.
Steelers’ GM Omar Khan Open To QB Competition
Although GM Omar Khan says that he has ‘full faith’ in Pickett, he also stated that the team is open to competition in the QB room.
“I have full faith in Kenny Pickett,” Khan said. “Obviously there were some issues with the offense, and I’m excited about the impact that Arthur Smith is going to have on him. I know Arthur’s very optimistic about Kenny, and I know they’ve communicated. And we’ll see where it goes. We feel really good about him.”
At the same time, Khan made a conflicting statement, where he didn’t sound as optimistic about Pickett being the starter in 2024.
“Right now, we have one guy under contract, that’s Kenny Pickett. I feel really good about Kenny, but he knows, and we all know there’s going to be competition in the room, and we’ve always been a team that keeps three quarterbacks, and I’d expect that to be the same this year. So, we’ll look at all avenues.”
It doesn’t necessarily mean that the Steelers are bringing Wilson in, but it also doesn’t sound like a GM that has complete faith in Pickett.
Wilson will be free to negotiate with new teams, including the Steelers, after this time. While the Raiders are the favorites to sign Wilson, the Steelers are second at +200. On Thursday, Feb. 29, however, the Steelers were -200 favorites.
Sean Payton and Wilson Split Inevitable
Broncos’ head coach Sean Payton and Wilson had a falling out during the 2023 NFL season. Payton and Wilson often butted heads, which came to a head against the Detroit Lions in December.
Despite Payton downplaying the incident after the game, the veteran head coach was seen yelling in the face of Wilson on the sideline after a Broncos’ drive stalled out deep in Lions’ territory.
If that wasn’t enough, Wilson was benched late in the season, which according to Wilson, was because he was defiant when the organization wanted him to change the terms of his contract.
“We beat the Chiefs. They came up to me at the beginning of the bye week — Monday or Tuesday — and told me that if I didn’t change my contract, my injury guarantee, that I’d be benched for the rest of the year… I was definitely disappointed about it.”
So, we know that Wilson has already packed up his bags to move out of Denver. However, where will the 35-year-old land next in the NFL?
Note that Wilson will most likely be cut by the Broncos before his 2025 salary of $37 million becomes fully guaranteed on March 17.
