Player: QB Kenny Pickett
Stock Value: Sold
Reasoning: In perhaps the most surprising move of the offseason, the Steelers moved on from QB Kenny Pickett. Once seen as the future face of the franchise, now he’s the disgruntled underachiever who yielded little return on investment. He exits the franchise with 14 wins and 13 touchdown passes; he may be the only quarterback with more wins than touchdown passes.
There’s a good chance that anybody who claims they saw this coming is lying. From the sounds of it, the Steelers didn’t see this coming, either, until Kenny Pickett forced the issue. The Steelers pushed for Russell Wilson, and once they landed him, Pickett asked the Steelers to trade him. They did, so now he is a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, serving the same role, as a backup.
Selected 20th overall in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Steelers made Pickett their first swing as successor to Ben Roethlisberger. They didn’t start him immediately, but he started playing four games into the season. He showed signs of promise by the end of his rookie season, but most failed to carry over into 2023.
In spite of his limitations and lack of production, he still had the Steelers sitting at 7-4 last season. That’s when he injured his ankle and ultimately entered the spiral that landed him in Philadelphia. Mason Rudolph played well in his absence and head coach Mike Tomlin opted to keep him in the lineup even after Pickett was healthy enough to return to action.
Reports increasingly indicate what many suspected then, that Pickett handled the situation poorly. He handled matters even worse after the Steelers agreed to sign Wilson. Perhaps until then he didn’t think Wilson would actually sign here. But then he reportedly cancelled a workout with his teammates once the news dropped. Instead, he picked up the phone and said he wanted out.
And so now he’s out, 25 games into his NFL career, with a 14-10 record. He has 13 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions, both of which say a lot about him as a player. If there’s anything left to unlock within him, the task of getting that out now falls into other people’s hands.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
