Russell Wilson’s desire to contend for the starting job with the Steelers is greatly exaggerated. Josina Anderson of CBS Sports says that the Steelers are getting ready to deal Kenny Pickett to the Eagles, only hours after they made the announcement of Wilson’s signing.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Steelers will really send Pickett to the Eagles in a pick-swap deal. The contract of the former first-round pick has two years left on it. In Philadelphia, Pickett is expected to support Jalen Hurts. The breakdown of the trade will be as follows:
Eagles receive:
Kenny Pickett
2024 No. 120 overall pick
Steelers receive:
2024 No. 98 overall pick
Two 2025 seventh-round choices.
Demoted for Mason Rudolph late last season, Pickett wanted to move on. While competition was reported initially, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport indicates the behind-closed-doors understanding upon the Steelers signing Wilson pointed to the former Pro Bowler being the starter and Pickett staying at QB2. Pickett, then, preferred a fresh start, Schefter adds.
This development may not have been the team’s plan when the offseason began. Mike Tomlin had said Pickett would be given the QB1 job, but that he would need to earn it by winning a competition. The Steelers did not observe Pickett handle the Wilson news well, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac. After indicating he was fine competing for the job, Pickett soured on the situation once the Wilson signing became imminent, SI.com’s Albert Breer tweets.
Following Pickett’s disappointment when the team kept Rudolph in the lineup late last year — a stretch that featured Pickett, per Dulac, refusing to dress as the emergency third QB in Week 17 — the team is moving on. Pickett had made it clear to teammates he thought he was the better option to close last season, via ESPN’s Kimberley Martin. Some in the building, however, believed Rudolph was the better option for 2024. In fairness to Pickett, veteran reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala indicates the Steelers reneged on their pledge that he would compete for the job upon informing him Wilson would take over.
Famous for his “volunteers, not hostages” M.O., Tomlin will sign off on this early separation. Rudolph has since signed with the Titans, putting the Steelers in the market for a backup QB once again. They released Mitch Trubisky earlier this year; he has since returned to the Bills.
A New Jersey native, Pickett grew up an Eagles fan. He then became quite familiar with the Steelers while playing at Pitt. The Steelers chose Pickett 20th overall in 2022, naming him as Ben Roethlisberger‘s heir apparent. But Pickett has not shown much to indicate he could fill those shoes. He will now join Sam Howell and Desmond Ridder as 2022 draftees (and primary 2023 starters) traded over the past two days. The 2022 draft class received low marks at the time; other than Brock Purdy, the early returns have not been good.
Due to signing bonus proration, the Steelers will eat more than $8M in dead money on this trade. Of course, they are set to pay their new starter the veteran minimum as the Broncos pick up the tab. Wilson alluded to a potential competition at his morning presser Friday, but it is probably clear he was informed that would not happen. Two years remain on Pickett’s rookie contract; the Eagles will have the 25-year-old passer tied to $985K and $2.6M base salaries.
Pickett ranked 27th in QBR last season and 20th in 2022. The 2-22 placement came well ahead of Wilson, who submitted a stunningly woeful season alongside Nathaniel Hackett in his Denver debut. Wilson improved under Sean Payton, but the Broncos still bailed — after some back-and-forth drama — before the veteran’s 2025 salary could become guaranteed this month. The Steelers have largely used homegrown rookies at quarterback this century, going from Roethlisberger to Pickett. While Kordell Stewart held the reins for much of the previous decade, the team did use free agent pickup Tommy Maddox in what became a stopgap capacity ahead of Roethlisberger’s near-two-decade-long tenure.
Wilson, 35, will be set to operate in a bridge capacity as well. However, it should not be expected the Steelers use a high draft choice to add an heir apparent this year. Despite Wilson’s step back in Denver — one that could potentially threaten his Hall of Fame status — Pittsburgh is set to give him the keys.
On Feb. 29, GM Omar Khan said he had full faith in Pickett. While he cited competition as important for the would-be third-year starter, a recent report also indicated a meeting between the QB and new OC Arthur Smith went well. But the Wilson news emerged soon after. While Wilson has not shown much of his Seahawks form since the 2022 blockbuster trade, Pickett winning a potential competition seemed unrealistic. There will now be no competition involving Pickett this year, as Hurts is entrenched as the Eagles’ starter.
Only 13 touchdown passes have been completed by Pickett in 25 games, 24 of which he started. Despite playing for the majority of his career with the Steelers’ subpar offense, Pickett showed some potential in the latter part of his first campaign. However, the top quarterback pick in 2022 did not improve on his performance from the previous campaign. As a result, OC Matt Canada was let go. This came before the surgery-needed damage to Pickett’s ankle. The six-foot-3 quarterback will only be worth 6.3 yards per attempt to Philadelphia, which decided not to re-sign Marcus Mariota in the offseason.
Steelers trade kenny Pickett