If Russell Wilson had retired an hour before his trade to the Denver Broncos, he would most likely have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

In 10 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, Wilson went to nine Pro Bowls, won a Super Bowl ring and another NFC title. In 2017, he accounted for more than 86 percent of the Seahawks’ yards from scrimmage and an astonishing 37 of 38 offensive touchdowns. He had a fantastic, historic run.

This Wilson is probably not the first thing you think of anymore when his name is mentioned. It’s probably more because Wilson struggled a lot after a high-profile trade to the Denver Broncos and a bad contract that followed from the team’s perspective. It could be because of the record $53 million salary hit the Broncos took in 2024 just to get rid of Wilson. Maybe it’s even a little bit because Wilson didn’t look good in his first preseason game for the Pittsburgh Steelers, which led to a discussion about whether Justin Fields should start at quarterback for Pittsburgh.

Wilson will start at quarterback for the Steelers, head coach Mike Tomlin announced Wednesday, giving Wilson one last chance to salvage his reputation and NFL legacy.

Russell Wilson gets another chance

Wilson’s preseason began the way his career with the Broncos ended. In his first game, he led the Steelers to four punts and a missed field goal. Through Wilson’s first four preseason drives, the Steelers had 12 net yards and a first down. It wasn’t much different than what we saw from Wilson in Denver.

Wilson was horrific under head coach Nathaniel Hackett in 2022, then slightly better but still pretty flawed under Sean Payton last season. Hackett was out of his depth and Payton had no patience with Wilson and never really seemed to want to build a working relationship. One could argue that the Broncos’ situation was so bad that Wilson could at least look like a reasonable facsimile of what he was in Seattle in a new environment. The Steelers are a rock-solid franchise and have provided that opportunity.

Wilson managed to complete both passes in the last game of the preseason, and that was enough for Tomlin to implement his plan to make Wilson his starter. The situation is still not ideal. Aside from George Pickens, the Steelers are very thin at the receiver position. New coordinator Arthur Smith will want to run the ball most of the time. It will be difficult for Wilson to have a strong season statistically.

But he has a chance. And he must take it, because if he fails, there may not be much interest in his services next off-season at the age of 37.

Can Wilson have a strong season?

Wilson probably can’t afford a slow start. The Wilson-Fields decision seemed like a legitimate one at the end of the preseason after the Steelers said in the offseason that Wilson was their likely QB1. Wilson’s calf injury at the start of training camp and his weak preseason debut cast doubt on that.

Fields has his own issues, particularly holding the ball in the pocket too long and being inaccurate when throwing, but he also has playmaking ability. Wilson used to have that with his legs, but in his mid-30s, that’s not part of his game anymore. If Wilson falters, he probably won’t have much job security. The Steelers only invested a one-year, $1.2 million contract in him.

Wilson is under a lot of pressure to perform well in September. If he can do that, he might be able to keep his job for the entire season and maybe even help the Steelers get back into the playoffs. Even if he doesn’t put up phenomenal numbers this season, a solid year with Pittsburgh putting together another winning season would help to take some of the stench out of his two seasons in Denver. It might create the impression that a player who was one of the NFL’s best in Seattle was simply in a losing position the last two seasons.

Tomlin gives Wilson a chance to turn things around, and his performance this season will determine how we remember his career.