The dialogue about the Steelers potentially being interested in free-agent quarterback Malik Willis seems to have cooled. The Miami Dolphins, Arizona Cardinals and Cleveland Browns appear to be the teams most commonly linked with the current Green Bay Packers backup.

That doesn’t break my heart. I’m certainly not sold on the notion of Willis being the answer for the Steelers at quarterback. My guess is, more likely than not, he’s an above-average second-stringer on a playoff team with a decent offensive coach.

Is he the kind of starter who is going to win you playoff games? I’m dubious.

Just as the entire league was in April of 2022, when it passed on him 85 times before he was finally selected by Tennessee in the third round of a very thin QB draft.

Since then, the 26-year-old has moved on to Green Bay, where, over the course of 11 games, Willis has posted six touchdowns, no interceptions, a completion percentage of 78% and a passer rating of 134.6. He has also run for 261 yards and three touchdowns.

So if the Steelers front office and new coaching staff come to the conclusion that Willis will never be more than a flash-in-the-pan quick fix, and that he’ll be worse with the more starts he has, so be it. Let the Dolphins, Cardinals or Browns make that mistake.

However, what if the franchise thinks there is some talent there, and that maybe it just picked the wrong guy in 2022 when the club went with Kenny Pickett in the first round instead of Willis? Omar Khan, Mike McCarthy and company should strongly consider giving him another look this time around.

Yes, even at some of the seemingly outlandish asking prices that have been floated within NFL reporting circles.

 

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A lot of jaws are slacked open at the idea of giving Willis a contract similar to the one Justin Fields got from the New York Jets a season ago. He left Pittsburgh for the Big Apple at the tune of $40 million over two years.

Remember, though, as unproven as Fields was, he still had 44 starts under his belt. Willis has six. So we’re still talking about a tremendous leap of faith.

One report last week had Willis’ potential asking price in the $30 million range per season. Jeremy Fowler at ESPN.com corralled some of those rumors and said he was told at the NFL Scouting Combine that the price tag probably won’t get that high.

Although, for the sake of argument, let’s say it does. Let’s go with two years, $30 million per year for Willis. That’s essentially the Fields contract with a year’s worth of inflation and a rising cap.

I’d say, “So what? Do it. Sign him.” If you are a team that likes his talent, then those prices shouldn’t scare you.

Too rich for your blood? OK. How about $25 million? Or $20 million, just like Fields?

Again, to reiterate, if teams (including the Steelers) don’t think he’s good enough, then, absolutely, stay away. Re-sign Aaron Rodgers. Draft Ty Simpson. Promote Will Howard. Good luck with all of that.

But the answer shouldn’t be: “We like Malik. But $30 million?! I don’t think so.”

Pfft! We’re talking about a potential starting quarterback here. Price shouldn’t matter. Especially that price.

According to OverTheCap.com, a 2026 cap hit of $30 million would put Willis 16th in the NFL among quarterbacks. A $20 million cap hit would rank him 21st. Five quarterbacks — Fields, Trevor Lawrence, Kirk Cousins, Brock Purdy and Geno Smith — are all currently designated for a $23-$26 million cap charge.

In other words, that asking price from Willis is hardly out of bounds for one of the few attractive free agent QBs on the market. Again, that’s if you believe in his talent and can get beyond his relative inexperience.

If that’s the mentality of the Steelers decision makers, they should bring him to Pittsburgh. Personally, I don’t feel that way. But if they do, sign him and don’t worry about the money.

If they are high on him and the move pays off, they’ll get a starting QB for this year and next to the tune of $60 million max. That would be a bargain. Four quarterbacks — Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson, Dak Prescott and Jared Goff — will all cost more than that for 2026 alone.

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I’d be more intrigued by signing Willis for $20 million-$30 million against the cap this year than bringing Rodgers back at $14 million-$20 million again. The Steelers have the 10th-most cap space in the NFL. If Rodgers comes back at $14 million again, plus Mason Rudolph at his $4.6 million and Will Howard at $1 million, that’s almost $20 million.

To go 10-8 (at best) again.

Willis at, say, $25 million, Howard at $1 million and a third-day rookie QB draft choice is only about a $7 million difference. If they cut Jonnu Smith, that’s exactly $7 million in cap savings.

There. Money issues solved.

If Willis works out, you’ve got a steal. If he stinks, try Howard or a high 2027 draft pick, and you suck it up for a year with Willis’ contract on the books.

The other two QBs won’t cost anything. The cap will go up again. No big deal.

At roughly this time a year ago, the widespread belief in town was that the Steelers liked Fields enough to go with him at quarterback unless another team took the bidding price too high. The Jets did that by going to $40 million over two years.

At roughly this time a year ago, the Steelers were reportedly going to offer Sam Darnold a contract. But they didn’t offer enough to outbid Seattle’s $100.5 million offer, even though just $37 million of that was guaranteed.

Seems like a bargain to win a Super Bowl, doesn’t it? Darnold is going to cost $37.9 million this year. I’d spend that instead of another $20 million on reassembling last year’s quarterback room, wouldn’t you?

The total cap charge of Russell Wilson and Fields on Pittsburgh’s roster in 2024 ended up being $4.43 million. That means, on average, since Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season, the Steelers’ average cap hit for their starting QBs (Rodgers in 2025, Wilson/Fields in ‘24, Pickett in ‘23 and Mitch Trubisky in ‘22) has been $6.3 million per season.

That’s absurdly low. And what has all that cap freedom yielded them in terms of roster construction toward playoff success?

Nothing.

At some point, the Steelers are going to have to spend for a quarterback again, or use a high first-round pick. Even spending for Willis at the top-end of those projections isn’t spending all that much.

If Willis isn’t deemed to be the right guy to buck that trend, I’ll get it. But if the Steelers like him and stay away because of money and just reboot things with Rodgers, then I won’t.