The Pittsburgh Steelers are trading quarterback Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles in the wake of their Russell Wilson signing, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Friday afternoon.
The full details of the trade have Pittsburgh acquiring the 98th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and two seventh-rounders in the 2025 draft for Pickett and the 120th overall pick, according to Schefter.
Trade terms, per sources:
🏈Steelers get pick No. 98 and two 2025 7th-round picks.
🏈Eagles get QB Kenny Pickett and No. 120.
It’s a similar value to Washington got for Sam Howell. https://t.co/s6vhKIrZyR
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 15, 2024
The Steelers give up on their 2022 first round pick after only two seasons and the Russell Wilson Steel City era has officially begun.
I’m slightly conflicted on this move for Pittsburgh, considering they don’t have a backup QB anymore, but overall I think it’s a win. It shows Wilson that the keys to the franchise are his and will hopefully assure him that he has the backing of the organization, something he never seemed to have under Sean Payton in Denver.
Pickett apparently did not handle the Wilson acquisition well, which may have led to his departure.
“The Steelers made the move because of the way Pickett was poorly handling the arrival of Russell Wilson, according to sources,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac tweeted. “That came on the heels of Pickett’s behavior last season when he refused to dress as the emergency third quarterback in Seattle in Week 17.”
The Steelers made the move because of the way Pickett was poorly handling the arrival of Russell Wilson, according to sources. That came on the heels of Pickett’s behavior last season when he refused to dress as the emergency third quarterback in Seattle in Week 17. https://t.co/mirLR1UJFP
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) March 15, 2024
Damn Kenny. Nobody likes being benched but … handle it like a man. (RELATED: The Giants Don’t Want Us To Think Drew Lock Might Be Our Starting QB. But One NFL GM Says It’s Possible)
While he did lose his starting job to Mason Rudolph at the end of the 2023 season, he still showed flashes of the first-round QB the Steelers were so enamored with. Plus he had a winning record in his 24 Steeler starts, racking up a 14-10 record in his two seasons as a starter. If he had just sat behind Russ and learned the ropes for a year or two, he could have re-emerged as the Steelers QB of the future. After all, America loves a comeback story.
Instead he’ll head to Philly, not too far from his hometown in New Jersey, where he’ll back up Jalen Hurts in a role that, barring injury, he will likely be stuck with.
Pickett was the only other QB on the roster after Wilson, so we’ll likely see them make a move to add some depth in the coming days. Could Zac Wilson be next? At this point it seems like the Jets will take anything for the embattled former second overall pick. Maybe one of those seventh-rounders ends up in New York and Wilson rocks the black and gold next season…