Should the Steelers want to keep Russell Wilson? Should T.J. Watt want to stay in Pittsburgh?

Before linebacker T.J. Watt and quarterback Russell Wilson went into meetings at Steelers headquarters Monday, both players told media members they want to stay in Pittsburgh for years to come.

For Wilson, that would mean signing here — presumably on a multi-year deal — instead of leaving in free agency this spring.

For Watt, that could mean extending his current contract this offseason before it expires after the 2025 campaign.

“I just love the guys. I love the locker room,” Wilson said. “I love coach (Mike) Tomlin. I love who he is. This place is a place that I think can win a lot.”

In Wilson’s case, if a deal can be made between the two sides, he’d return as the clear-cut starter, and the Steelers are unlikely to select a first-round draft choice at the position.

Also, given that there is such little money tied up on the offensive side of the ball, there may not be many other destinations in the NFL that can acquiesce to the money he is going seek. Spotrac currently has that ticket projected at $38.7 million per year. That sounds high, but not by a ton.

What other cities have an opening at QB as obvious as the Pittsburgh’s? Las Vegas? Deshaun Watson is hurt again Cleveland. Perhaps both New York teams if the Jets want to scrap the Aaron Rodgers experiment? New Orleans comes to mind (depending on what the Saints do with Derek Carr), as does Nashville if the Tennessee Titans want to move on from Will Levis already and don’t have a quarterback they covet atop the 2025 draft.

As far away as the Steelers are from a Super Bowl run, all those teams appear to be in worse shape. While Pittsburgh clearly ended 2024 on the decline, none of those five teams finished with more than five wins.

So it makes all the sense in the world why Wilson would want to tether himself to the Steelers. As mediocre as they are, the infrastructure is such that the organization and fanbase are constantly capable of talking themselves into a sense of competitiveness, to say nothing of his clear path to starter’s status and financial earning potential.

“They’ve known that I always want to be here and play here, but it’s also a process,” Wilson said. “We haven’t had those meetings yet. We’ll have those, and we’ll go from there.”

The real question is, do the Steelers want Wilson for the foreseeable future? He has previously stated that he’d like to play into his early 40s. That’s four years from now.

Based on how 2025 wrapped up, I’d argue that signing Wilson to any contract that has more than two years of real money on it is foolhardy. After a hot start coming off his calf injury, Wilson faded as the season rolled along, and the Steelers started to face better competition.

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But they’ve already swung and missed with Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett at quarterback to open the post-Big Ben era. Justin Fields did little to inspire confidence that he could be a 17-game starter on a Super Bowl contender. There doesn’t appear to be much on the free agent market. The Steelers are drafting at No. 21 in a year without many top-flight quarterbacks. The Steelers may give Russ what he wants based strictly out of fear that they may not find anyone better to replace him.

In fact, I bet that’s the direction they are leaning. If he wants more than two years, and more than $30 million per year, I wouldn’t do it.

Watt is a different story. He says he wants to stay. The former defensive player of the year gave an impassioned soliloquy as to why.

“I’ve put so much into it here,” Watt said. “I want to help Cam Heyward get to where we need to get. I want to be part of the solution. I don’t want to leave this place. I love the people here. That goes beyond just the coaches. It’s the fan base. It’s the people, the community. We owe it to them to get it right.”

Watt has the option to tempt fate. He doesn’t have to extend his contract this offseason. He can play for one more year here, reach free agency, and then stay or go based on whatever whim he has in March of 2026.

Sure, another boatload of guaranteed dollars for Watt this spring would be great. Who wouldn’t want that kind of security? But at 30 years old he already has $110 million in earnings. He has every personal accolade in the book.

Might he want a better chance to win a Super Bowl? That’s something he hasn’t come close to doing so far in his eight-year NFL career. It’s something his two NFL brothers, J.J. and Derek, were unable to do.

Watt was born in 1994. That was one year after Reggie White left Philadelphia for Watt’s native Wisconsin to join the Green Bay Packers. It was a nearly identical script.

White was a heavily decorated pass rusher who won one playoff game in eight years with the Eagles. Then he went to Green Bay at 32 years old, made six more Pro Bowls, claimed a Defensive Player of the Year award and won a Super Bowl.

Von Miller is a slightly different, more contemporary story. He enjoyed Super Bowl success as a pass rusher in Denver. But Miller was traded to the Los Angeles Rams at 32, won a second Super Bowl, and then moved on to Buffalo, where he has been a part of three other Bills teams that have won playoff games.

DeMarcus Ware went from Dallas to Denver in 2015 and won a Super Bowl at 32 after one playoff win in nine years as a Cowboy.

“I want to be part of the solution (in Pittsburgh), not leave here and go somewhere else. That’s not my intention at all,” Watt insisted.

Fair enough. I just wonder if — with or without an extension — he’ll feel the same way after next season if the Steelers finally finish under .500 for the first time since 2003.

And I fear they will.