The Pittsburgh Steelers made a shocking move on Friday evening in shipping former first-round quarterback Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles. His tenure only lasted two years and all of 24 starts with the organization before he was shipped away for a pick swap, bringing a 2024 third-round pick to Pittsburgh and two 2025 seventh-round picks in exchange for Pickett and one of the Steelers’ fourth-round picks. Pickett took to Instagram to bid farewell to the city.
“Thank you, Pittsburgh! I came to this city 7 years ago and my life changed forever,” Pickett wrote. “Grateful for all of the amazing people I was fortunate enough to cross paths with, and for all of those who supported me along the way. I made life-long friendships and relationships that I will always cherish.”
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So just like that, the Pickett era is over and the Steelers wasted no time moving on with another addition in the quarterback room, trading for Justin Fields on Saturday evening. Pickett reportedly requested his way out of town after feeling misled about the nature of the quarterback competition following the signing of Russell Wilson. He was made to believe that he would get another opportunity to start in 2023, so it came as a surprise when the Steelers added a guy who would very clearly be starting.
Pickett spent more than just the two years with the Steelers, as he also played at Acrisure Stadium (then Heinz Field) in his days at the University of Pittsburgh. When he was drafted, he was the local product that everybody wanted to root for, but his poor play and some reports about how he took the Wilson signing, including canceling workouts with his wide receivers, quickly made the fanbase turn against him.
Interestingly, his goodbye was to the city of Pittsburgh, but he did not make any specific mention to the Steelers or any members of the organization in his thank you messaage.
Mike Tomlin has said in the past, “we want volunteers, not hostages.” Pickett turned himself into a hostage and was shipped out of town. Now he joins the team that he grew up rooting for in New Jersey in the Philadelphia Eagles with a fresh start to put this saga behind him.
