Steelers TE already starting unnecessary Russell Wilson hype train

While I certainly understand the enthusiasm Pat Freiermuth has about Russell Wilson joining the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason, let's pump the brakes a little bit. The former Penn State star tight end has not been blessed with great quarterback play since he left Happy Valley for the Steel City. Although Wilson was on a hall of fame trajectory, his stock is trading at 20 percent of its original value.

Freiermuth went on Around The 412 recently, discussing a multitude of things. He spoke about going down to San Diego to work out with Wilson and run routes for him. While there is nothing wrong with building chemistry in the offseason with your quarterback (it is actually quite important), we do not need another Russell Wilson hype train before it leaves the station. Let him play his was back to good.

As far as fitting into the locker room, his former Seattle Seahawks teammates could not stand him.

"I was just down there in San Diego with him working out and throwing routes. He's been great at talking to guys and starting to build that connection. He's a great guy. You can tell the drive and determination that he has to win and come to Pittsburgh and win some playoff games for us. I think he is going to fit our culture and locker room very well."

Here is the entire video of Freiermuth speaking with the guys on Around The 412 about the Steelers.

Keep in mind that Pittsburgh also traded for Justin Fields, who might actually be better than Wilson...

Pat Freiermuth shovels coal into yet another Russell Wilson hype train

At some point, we are going to have to recognize Wilson for what he is. The last three seasons have been so detrimental to his NFL career that he went from a lock to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, to a guy who is probably never getting in now. I understand that the Denver Broncos are a flaming bag of crap of an organization, but Wilson was awful during his final season with the Seahawks as well.

While Wilson does benefit from playing on a defensive-minded team in Pittsburgh, he has to play in an Arthur Smith offense. That used to be a good thing when he was coordinating the Tennessee Titans, but it became a terrible thing when he was going 7-10 every year coaching my Atlanta Falcons. I suspect Smith, Wilson and the Steelers will all be better off together, but not considerably.

The thing that I cannot get past is Fields is a younger, ascending player whose ego is not the size of the sun. I understand that we had an eclipse yesterday, but that does not change the fact that Fields should be given more benefit of the doubt than Wilson. He actually was a first-round pick, does not have nicknames for himself and does not possess a never-ending need to be placated constantly.

Wilson may have won Freiermuth over, but he has a long way to go to win over all of Pittsburgh.