Just two weeks ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers made the shocking decision to trade away their former first-round quarterback in Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles for a pick swap. This was on the heels of Russell Wilson signing a one-year deal with the team. Most of the reporting in the immediate aftermath of the decision indicated that Pickett requested his way out of town after feeling misled about the nature of the quarterback competition. Mike Tomlin spoke to the media for the first time since all of the big moves in free agency, and as expected he was asked about the quarterback shuffle that took place in Pittsburgh.
“From his perspective, he felt like a change of scenery would be a good thing,” Tomlin said via a tweet from the press availability posted by TribLive’s Joe Rutter on X. “When we felt the trajectory of business with Chicago moving in the right direction, those dominoes started falling.”
With a weaker-than-expected trade market for Justin Fields in Chicago, the Steelers felt comfortable shipping away Pickett and bringing in Fields, according to Tomlin. This gives the quarterback room a veteran option who can help win now, and a possible longer-term option in Fields.
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor posted additional quotes from that Tomlin response as well.
“I won’t get into specifics about our conversations, but I am appreciative of his efforts during his time in Pittsburgh and I wish him nothing but the absolute best in Philadelphia,” Tomlin said.
With Pickett already doing his introductory press conference in Philadelphia, he gave a similarly professional non-answer about the specifics of his exit. Tomlin has said over the years that he doesn’t like hostages on his team and he much prefers volunteers. Once Pickett made it known that he wanted out of town, and with Fields available for cheap, the decision came rather rapidly. Pickett said in his press conference with the Philadelphia media, “I am confident in the way I handled it.”
Tomlin clarified the nature of the quarterback competition because even with Fields now in town, he stated that Wilson is in “pole position,” meaning he is the frontrunner to be the starting quarterback entering training camp and presumably Week 1. Though he did say that Fields will be able to compete whenever appropriate, whatever that might mean.
