Since injuring his ankle against the Arizona Cardinals in December, Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett can’t be happy with how things have gone. He underwent surgery to heal his sprained ankle and stayed on the bench once healthy, watching Mason Rudolph lead the Steelers into the playoffs. Now, despite the Steelers’ public display of confidence in him, the team is set to sign Russell Wilson, likely to be Pittsburgh’s Week 1 starter.
If so, Pickett will start 2024 the way he ended 2023. The backup. Despite that bleak outlook, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky believes all isn’t lost. Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show Monday, Orlovsky discussed Pickett’s future.
“I think that the conversation with Kenny Pickett is, ‘Hey, we’re gonna give you an opportunity to compete. Russell’s gonna go take the number one reps and you have to be ready. And you’re still a young player.’ He is only going to his third year. So you’re still a young player. So I still believe that Russell Wilson was told, ‘Hey, you’re gonna be the starting quarterback until you prove to us that you can’t be.'”
Wilson is set to sign for the veteran minimum, a byproduct of the Denver Broncos being on the hook for the majority of his 2024 costs. While Pittsburgh has espoused a desire for competition and will likely keep that framing after signing Wilson, Orlovsky is confident Wilson will get the starting nod.
For Pickett, 2024 was supposed to be his make-or-break season. A clean slate, a chance to evaluate him under new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith after getting past the pitfalls of Matt Canada. But if Pickett is stuck to the bench, there won’t be any evaluation. Meaning, the Steelers will decline his fifth-year option next offseason and it’s hard to see Pittsburgh even thinking about returning to Pickett for 2025. Pickett may only be in his third year, but time was already running out for him to prove himself. With Wilson in the fold, that door may close.
Orlovsky says he isn’t sure how the Steelers communicated the Wilson news to Pickett, if they did at all.
“I would hope that there was a conversation with Kenny Pickett. I, you’ve been around organizations. Sometimes they tell you, sometimes they don’t,” he said.
Orlovsky understands the difficulty of Pickett’s situation under Canada but noted that Pittsburgh had to deal with the “reality” of the situation. Pickett’s production through his first two seasons was historically poor and if the Steelers can get even average quarterback production this season, it could be enough to get over the hump and win a playoff game. Maybe Orlovsky’s right that Pickett’s career will bounce back. But it doesn’t seem like that’ll happen in Pittsburgh. Instead, he’ll find it in a second act with another team.
