As the offseason ramps up now that the Super Bowl is behind us, the talk of a potential Justin Fields trade from the Chicago Bears to the Pittsburgh Steelers continues to generate a ton of attention, creating a bunch of talking points.
But one thing that seems to be getting lost regarding a potential Fields-Steelers marriage is how the Steelers have talked about and supported Kenny Pickett coming off a tough 2023 season.
Following the 2023 season, which came to a conclusion with a loss to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Wild Card Round, head coach Mike Tomlin stated he still believes in Pickett and that the former Pitt star enters the offseason as the No. 1 quarterback. Though he added that there will be competition brought in for Pickett, Fields wouldn’t exactly be competition.
He’d be the starter.
Team president and owner Art Rooney II threw public support behind Pickett, too, stating that the franchise still believes in him as a franchise quarterback even while acknowledging he needs to improve.
Though Fields is the popular name, and it appears to be generating some steam in the media circle, former NFL coach and Pitt Panthers legend Dave Wannstedt stated on an appearance with NBC Sports Chicago that he can’t see the trade happening because of how much the Steelers believe in Pickett.
“Oh, I think it’s a good rumor. But they drafted Kenny Pickett in the first round. I don’t believe the way the Steelers operate, they are very methodical. There’s no knee-jerk reaction with coaches, with players, with coordinators. We’ve seen that over and over again,” Wannstedt said of the Fields rumor with the Steelers, according to video via NBC Sports Chicago’s YouTube page. “They like Pickett a lot. Mason Rudolph came in and played well as the backup, better than anybody there thought. And that’s why today they basically came to an agreement and turned Mitch Trubisky loose.
“I don’t see it happening in Pittsburgh.”
For better or worse, the Steelers do like Pickett a lot — way more than most.
Pickett showed flashes his rookie season that he could be a promising NFL quarterback, maybe one who wasn’t elite but certainly a strong game manager who could make plays and find ways to win late.
The expectation entering the 2023 season was that he would take the Year Two leap and emerge as one of the better young quarterbacks in the NFL. Instead, the opposite happened. Pickett largely cratered under former offensive coordinator Matt Canada, dealt with a number of injuries and poor play and then lost his starting job to Mason Rudolph late in the season upon his return from injury.
Though Pickett looked good in the six quarters without Canada calling plays, it’s a small sample size to go off of. There’s a belief that new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith can help him turn things around. Maybe that’s the case.
The Steelers are in the QB market though, even if it might be on the discount rack. A trade for Fields would signal the Steelers no longer believe in Pickett after just two years and 24 starts. As Wannstedt stated, that’s not how they operate. It’s hard to see them reversing course on that mode of operation all of a sudden, even if it is at the QB position.
