Russell Wilson joins list of late-career former superstars acquired by Pittsburgh teams

Russell Wilson is one of the biggest veteran “names” ever acquired by a Pittsburgh pro sports team via free agency or trade. A Super Bowl-winning quarterback and nine-time Pro Bowl honoree, Wilson is one of the NFL’s most recognizable stars.

But that Wilson is coming to the Steelers for the NFL veteran minimum salary — and that his former team, the Denver Broncos, is willing to pay him $39 million while not playing for them this season — suggests he is no longer among the best in the sport.

That’s OK — there’s no shame in no longer being elite at age 35. And time will tell if Wilson can still play at a high level and/or help lead the Steelers to postseason success that has been so elusive in recent years. He very well might.

But despite credentials that put Wilson well into consideration for future induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, virtually no one is expecting a vintage, mid-2010s version Wilson. That puts him into a select group with other individuals acquired by the Steelers, Pirates or Penguins who were transcendent talents … but not quite so by the time they played in Pittsburgh.

Here are some Hall of Famers (or, those projected for future Hall of Fame consideration) who joined a Pittsburgh pro sports team after the age of 30. While it would be fair to characterize some as “washed up,” some still performed at a high level — even if, by most any measure, their best days came before an acquisition by a black-and-gold team:

Jim Bunning

When the Pirates traded for the future U.S. Senator in late 1967, the 36-year-old Bunning was a seven-time All-Star who had led the National League in strikeouts three times and won at least 19 games in a season five times. He went 14-23 with a 3.84 ERA in 52 games (51 starts) for the Pirates before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers 20 months later.

Jeff Carter

Carter was 10 goals shy of 400 when the Penguins traded for him at age 36 in April 2021. He got nine of those goals in only 14 games to finish out that season and four more in six playoff games the following month. But after given a lucrative contract extension amidst the following season, Carter seemed to quickly age and has been an albatross on the Penguins’ salary cap over the two-plus years since.

Aroldis Chapman

Chapman probably isn’t quite a future Hall of Famer, but he has been one of baseball’s most feared closers for more than a decade. A seven-time All-Star, Chapman needs three saves to move into the top 20 of all-time. He signed with the Pirates on Jan. 31, turned 36 four weeks later and is expected to be the set-up man for closer David Bednar this season.

Hank Greenburg

Get this: The Pirates — yes, the Pirates — once had highest-paid player in baseball history. To ensure Greenberg did not retire at age 36 in 1947, Pirates owner Bing Crosby made Greenberg MLB’s first player to earn a $100,000 season salary. A two-time MVP, five-time All-Star and four-time AL home run champion, Greenberg had 25 home runs, 74 RBIs and hit .249 playing for the Pirates in his final big-league season.

Erik Karlsson

As the reigning Norris Trophy winner coming off the first 100-point season by a defenseman in three decades, Karlsson last summer was traded from the San Jose Sharks to the Penguins. Through 63 games and with the Penguins spiraling toward the bottom of the NHL standings, the 33-year-old Karlsson has eight goals and 43 points while the Penguins’ power play has struggled mightily.

Bobby Layne

An original draft pick of the Steelers whose rights were quickly traded away, Layne was a five-time Pro Bowl quarterback twice named All Pro who had won three NFL championships when early during the 1958 season the Detroit Lions traded him (then age 31) to the Steelers. Layne was very good in black-and-gold, posting a winning record as a starter at a time the franchise mostly struggled. He made a Pro Bowl for the Steelers and is part of the organization’s Hall of Honor.

Patrick Marleau

The covid pandemic contributed to Marleau’s Penguins tenure lasting a mere eight games (plus four more in the playoffs) as a 40-year-old for whom the team had submitted a third-round pick to acquire from San Jose. Marleau retired one season later as the all-time NHL games-played leader and among the top 25 all-time in the NHL in goals and the top 50 in points. Only one of those goals and two of those points came for the Penguins.

Marion Motley

One of the greatest players in the history of the Cleveland Browns, Motley spent eight seasons as a standout fullback and linebacker. He was part of four championship teams and four times was first- or second-team All Pro. But when the Steelers had him as a 35-year-old attempting to come out of retirement in 1955, Motley lasted just six games as a spare linebacker.

Joe Mullen

Mullen was only a year removed from a 51-goal season when during the summer of 1990 the Calgary Flames dealt him to the Penguins for a second-round draft pick, citing his 33-year-old age. Mullen would three times have at least 30 goals in a season for the Penguins while claiming Stanley Cup rings with them in 1991 and ’92. Mullen reached 500 career goals with the Penguins in his final season (1996-97).

Patrick Peterson

Peterson was a model leader and locker-room presence during his lone season with the Steelers in 2023 – and he was pretty good on the field for a 33-year-old, too. Peterson led the Steelers in defensive snaps played, and he started 16 of 17 games while moving to safety late in the season to save the Steelers after a spate of injuries there. But Peterson was clearly not the player he was a decade prior for the Arizona Cardinals (seven Pro Bowls, three first-team All Pro honors), and he was released last week.

Bryan Trottier

Trottier was a former NHL MVP and four-time Stanley Cup champion with the New York Islanders when he signed with the Penguins as a free agent in 1990. Though his days as a league scoring champion were well past him at that point at age 34, Trottier’s contributions as a bottom-six center and leader were valuable for a Penguins team that won the Stanley Cup each of his first two seasons there.