The Pittsburgh Steelers fulfilled QB Kenny Pickett’s desire to play elsewhere after the team signed QB Russell Wilson, sending Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles in a trade. Pickett reportedly wasn’t happy that Wilson was going to be given the first crack at the starting job and asked for a change of scenery, and that’s something that disappointed former Steelers running back and current analyst Merril Hoge. Appearing on Mic Drop Sports, Hoge said he was surprised Pickett didn’t want to compete with Wilson for the starting job.
“When you look at the quarterback situation, I really like Kenny Pickett. I was disappointed he didn’t want to compete. That one surprised me.”
He added that after reflecting on the situation, he believes it’s a “win-win” because there won’t be ill will between Pickett and the organization. He still thinks Pickett can be a good quarterback, something he also said recently on the DVE Morning Show.
Frankly, if Kenny Pickett didn’t want to compete or be with the Steelers, there was no point in keeping him around, even if the team felt he had some untapped potential. Hoge is a big believer in Pickett, but if he didn’t want to play for Pittsburgh, all it was going to do was cause issues and friction in the locker room. It ended up with the Steelers in a better place, acquiring a younger and better backup quarterback in Justin Fields, who wanted to come to Pittsburgh over other options.
Who knows how much of a chance Pickett would’ve really had to compete for the job, but the Steelers likely weren’t going to just declare Wilson the starter outright, even if he likely would’ve won the job. They haven’t done so with Fields in tow, with head coach Mike Tomlin saying that Wilson is in “pole position” and will start off getting first-team reps.
While it’s expected that Wilson will end up starting, it’s not a guarantee, and Pickett didn’t want to stay and try and compete to win the job. If he didn’t win the job, his situation in Pittsburgh would be a lot better, backing up a soon-to-be 36-year-old Wilson instead of a quarterback in Jalen Hurts, who’s younger than him and Philadelphia’s franchise quarterback.
Trading Kenny Pickett means the Steelers can wipe their hands clean from one of their biggest mistakes in the 2022 offseason, which was drafting him in the first place. Now, they can move forward with a Wilson/Fields room that should be an upgrade over what they had last season.
