More than a decade after his most crushing defeat, and what has to be one of the most crushing defeats for any quarterback in Super Bowl history, new revelations are still emerging about why Russell Wilson came to throw a game-deciding interception to Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler in Super Bowl 49.
Wilson’s blunder turned what would have been a second straight Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl championship into, instead, the fourth New England Lombardi Trophy of what would turn out be six for head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. But now, with his career likely nearing its close, the 2012 third-round draft pick Wilson, under one offseason scenario, could finish his career in the uniform of the team that dealt him his most memorable, and humiliating, defeat.
In an interview earlier this week, Brandon Mebane â a defensive tackle on the 2014 Seahawks who was watching the decisive play from the sideline â claimed that it was Wilson himself who called the fateful goal-line pass that was shockingly picked off by Butler, sealing the Patriots’ 28-24 victory.
Wilson Could Wrap Up Career in New England
For the past decade, Seattle’s then-head coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell have shouldered the blame for the play call, when it appeared that a one-yard touchdown run by Marshawn Lynch would have won the game for Seattle. But Mebane now says the Lynch run was, indeed, the play call â but Wilson inexplicably audibled a new play, the doomed pass, on the line of scrimmage.
So, how could Wilson now end up with the Patriots to wind down his career? The scenario starts with his current team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, being in desperate need of a new quarterback. According to most reports out Pittsburgh, the organization has no interest in bringing Wilson back for a second season, after he finished the season with five straight losses, including a Wild Card Round playoff defeat to the Baltimore Ravens.
While the Steelers are reportedly open to bringing back fifth-year quarterback Justin Fields, the Chicago Bears’ first round draft pick (11th overall) in 2021, they benched him after six starts in favor of Wilson â which indicates that Pittsburgh will be in the market for a strong backup for Fields if not a new starter.
They could find that quarterback in one of the most heavily-speculated-about trade prospects in the NFL, Patriots backup quarterback Joe Milton III.
Steelers Will Need a New Quarterback in 2025
Milton, who as a Tennessee Volunteer was MVP of the 2022 Orange Bowl, was New England’s sixth-round draft pick in 2024, 193rd overall, meaning that if the Patriots could convert him into a third-rounder or even a fourth, that would be “a win for the roster,” according to ESPN NFL analysts Aaron Schatz.
Milton, a rookie, got into one game for the Patriots, in Week 18 against the Buffalo Bills. Though the Bills fielded mostly a second-string roster, Milton was impressive nonetheless, with a 111.4 passer rating and even, at one point, sidearming the second-fastest pass (61.7 mph) ever clocked in the NFL.
But trading Milton III to the Steelers would leave the Patriots without a backup for last year’s No. 3 overall draft pick Drake Maye, who appears to be the Patriots’ franchise signal-caller for the foreseeable future. Wilson will be a free agent coming off a one-year, $1.2 million contract. The veteran could be signed inexpensively, and if he chose to accept the role, would serve as a veteran mentor to Maye as the Patriots look to rebuild after back-to-back 4-13 seasons.
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