Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steelers Reporter

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Listen on your Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll be glad you did. Jerry, how you doing, man? Jerry, man, I am fine. It's been a busy 24 hours, but all good. Most certainly.

Well, thank you for taking the time to hop on. So what everybody wants to know, where in the world is Russell Wilson? What's the latest? Well, I know where he was today. He was in Pittsburgh where he is tonight and where he's headed tomorrow. I don't know. But, you know, the Steelers were interested in talking to him and he was interested in talking to the Steelers.

They did it today. And, you know, we'll see what happens. I don't know what his tour entails. I don't know who else he is going to visit. I knew yesterday that he was visiting with one other team. I assume at the time that would have been the Giants. I don't know if he has four teams, three teams, six teams, you know, that he's going to meet with.

But I know that the Steelers were one of them. And I know he shares an interest in coming here as well. Now we'll see what happens. Not going to tell you it's going to happen because I don't know. I think there's a good, you know, there is a good sense that it could happen. You know, but hey, until it does, you know, I'm not going to sit here and tell you it's a done deal because it's not.

Well, certainly, Jerry, is certainly understandable. But with mutual interest, wouldn't you say, though, that it's likely to happen? And even with that case, what would happen with Kenny Pickett if Russell Wilson is added to the team? JR, if I had to put odds on it or give you a percentage, I would say it would be 51-49 and that it would get done.

I take it a little bit more than 50-50, but I don't want to say a whole lot more than that because I couldn't say that in all honesty. But I don't think it does to Kenny. It does a couple of things to Kenny Pickett. But I think what's at play here is that the Steelers, Art Rooney, the second team president, came out after the season and effectively said his patience is running thin. And he said, quote, it's time, excuse me, to win some playoff games. They've gone seven years without a playoff victory.

That's the longest drought since they first made the playoffs in 1972. And so excuse me, I think they feel a quarterback such as Russell Wilson, because of that sense of urgency, because of the immediacy, a quarterback, they want to make sure they have a quarterback who they think maybe can do that. Is it a slight at Kenny Pickett? Is it a lack of show a lack of faith in Kenny Pickett? Well, maybe to a degree, because they really don't know as they enter year three with him what they have with Kenny Pickett. They know they have a 14 and 10 quarterback, a guy who's very conservative, who doesn't throw picks, but also doesn't throw touchdown passes.

A guy who doesn't average, doesn't produce a lot of points, but he doesn't turn the ball over. They need more than that. And does Russell Wilson still have enough left in the tank? He threw 26 touchdown passes last year.

That's double what Kenny Pickett has thrown in two seasons. And so I think it would be a good move for the Steelers. Would they bring him in and say, okay, you're the starter?

No, but I don't think there's any question for him to come here. He would have to have some guarantee that at the very least, look, we're going to let you compete for this job. And if you're the best man, you will be the guy. So we'll see how it plays out. But you know, as far as Kenny Pickett, you know, he's a professional.

This is the NFL. And one or two things going to happen. He's either going to be a flower and wilt or he's going to stand up and fight for his job. And what I know of Kenny Pickett, I certainly don't expect them to wilt. But I think it's all part of the process of finding out what they have in Kenny Pickett. What kind of guy he is.

What kind of character does he have? You know, he didn't handle the whole Mason Rudolph thing at the end of last year very well. So I'm going to guess he's probably not going to react very well if Russell Wilson comes in. But that's all part of what they're going to find out with Kenny Pickett. Jerry Dulak is here with us. The J.R. sport re-show here on CBS Sports Radio. What is the overall vibe of the city when it comes to Russell Wilson? Is there an acceptance of, hey, we need to bring him in? Or is it resistance? We know Kenny Pickett more of a hometown guy.

What is the city's vibe? Well, you know, J.R., I think the honeymoon with Kenny Pickett has worn off. All the people who were hyping him and over-evaluating his talent when they drafted him are now going the other way and calling him a draft buss. And he is neither. He was neither a franchise quarterback nor a draft buss. He's a 14 and 10 quarterback, you know, who has won some games for him.

But he's not doing it on his own. And so, you know, that honeymoon with him is over. You know, they saw what happened with the offense when Mason Rudolph played. I mean, it was – the difference in the offense was dramatic. You know, the common complaint was that, well, Kenny Pickett is operating in Matt Canada's offense and Matt Canada is hamstringing him and he's hurting him. And when Matt Canada leaves, it'll be a whole different – you know, it's unfair to Kenny. And when he gets a new coordinator, we'll find out what he's like.

Well, you know what? Mason Rudolph came in and it was Matt Canada's offense. And all of a sudden, as I said earlier, it looked like an NFL offense. So what was the problem? Was it Kenny Pickett or was it the offense?

And was it Matt Canada? Because that wasn't the case when Mason Rudolph got in there. So to answer your question, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Russell Wilson is a savior.

But for one year, he probably gives them a better option to, you know, get into the postseason and finally win a game. So I would think, look, you're talking about a future more than likely Hall of Fame quarterback. You're talking about a nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback. You're talking about a Super Bowl winning quarterback. When you can bring that kind of guy in – and we'll find out. Does he have a lot left in the tank?

I don't know. But when you bring that type of guy in, I don't think there's any question. It certainly will create a great measure of curiosity. But I think it will generate a lot of excitement, too, about the quarterback position, which, you know, hasn't been apparent since Kenny Pickett's rookie season because there was so much hype surrounding him. But that all eroded last year because what they anticipated, what they expected from him in year two, what they were hoping they would get, they never got.

Jerry Dulack is here with us from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Outside of a potential union with Russell Wilson, we know some of the other changes that have taken place. Patrick Peterson just got let go.

Arthur Smith now coming in as the offensive coordinator following his tenure as head coach of the Falcons. What are some other potential changes and things of note and need for the Steelers as we go through the offseason? Well, they've made a number already, you know, releasing Mitch Trubisky, saving $11.5 million in real money over the next two years, releasing Mason Cole, you know, releasing Patrick Peterson. They released Alan Robinson, who was due a $10 million salary this year, so they saved that amount of money.

And so they made a number of moves to save a lot of money, not just against the cap, but in real dollars. And bringing in Arthur Smith, I think, has a lot of people energized from the standpoint of, look, Matt Canada had no idea what he was doing. He was a guy who had never been a coordinator in the NFL, and it showed. And Mike Tomlin said after the season that what he was looking for was a guy who had had experience in the NFL as a coordinator, and that's Arthur Smith. He checks that box.

I like to hire. You know, when he was at Tennessee as the coordinator, I mean, you know, best year Derrick Henry had, best year Ryan Tannehill has ever had. You know, people want to complain about, well, in Atlanta, he didn't get the best out of Desmond Ritter. Well, who's to say that Desmond Ritter is an elite quarterback?

Certainly not me. You know, Bijan Robinson didn't develop. But, you know, it's a different animal for Arthur Smith. He's the head coach. He has a lot of other things on his plate aside from calling the offense. Now he goes back to being a coordinator and and that's all he has to worry about. And when he has done that, he has proven to be very, very good.

And so I think that's the way they're looking at a final question for you, Jerry. We know about Russell Wilson and Arthur Smith coming in and some of the other action. It was only about a month ago that Mike Tomlin, a little more than that at this point, stood and talked in front of the media about a potential contract extension. What's the latest with Mike Tomlin? And every time I'm in Pittsburgh, fans, every losing streak, they want to give him the boot.

What's the latest? Yeah, the fans have grown a little weary because of the non playoff wins, despite the fact that he's had those 17 consecutive seasons with the non losing season. I will point up that 15 of those were because he had a Hall of Fame quarterback named Ben Roethlisberger. He will get an extension. The team president, Art Rooney, has already said that.

And that's and that was always the case. And it's you know, it's going to be up to Mike Tomlin really how long he stays unless the bottom falls out of this thing. And let's face it, the bottom has not fallen out of this thing. Have they not had the success that they would like and that this this franchise is accustomed to? No, they haven't.

But the bottom hasn't fallen out. There's no five and 12 seasons, six and 11, four and 13. There's none of that with the Steelers. A bad season for them was 10 and seven and losing in the playoffs. There'd be a lot of teams who would love to do that.

I'm not making excuses for them or for him, but I don't think Mike Tomlin is going anywhere unless he decides he's just had enough and it's time for a change of scenery. Hey, Jerry, thank you so much for the excellent insight. Where can people follow you and all of your work keeping up with the Steelers? Well, they can follow me on Twitter at at Jerry Dulac for sure.

And of course, any time if they go to post hyphen gazette dot com, they can find me there just as easily. But J.R., thanks for the time, man. Always good chat with you. No problem. Let's see what happens over the next several weeks.

Next several months. And you enjoy your weekend. OK, Jerry, thank you. Thanks, man. Thank you.