Philadelphia Eagles QB Kenny Pickett headlines the list of eight former Pittsburgh Steelers heading to Super Bowl LIX two weeks from now in New Orleans. The final two teams left standing are the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.
On the Eagles’ side, four former Steelers will make the trip. Pickett will serve as QB Jalen Hurts’ immediate backup, the role he’s assumed all year since being traded by Pittsburgh to Philadelphia in March. Pickett appeared in five games throughout the regular season, making one start in relief of Hurts after he suffered a concussion. The Eagles blew out the Dallas Cowboys that day, Pickett going 10-of-15 for 143 yards and a touchdown before exiting with a rib injury.
Pickett mopped up Sunday’s NFC Championship Game over the Washington Commanders, replacing Hurts late in the game once the Eagles had all-but secured victory. He didn’t throw a pass, handing off to RB Will Shipley as Philadelphia scored their seventh rushing touchdown of the day. That tied the NFL’s playoff record, matching the seven the Chicago Bears had in their 1940 73-0 NFL Championship win over the Washington Redskins, still the biggest blowout in league history.
But Pickett isn’t the only ex-Steeler on the Eagles’ roster. There’s offensive lineman Fred Johnson. Signing with Pittsburgh as an undrafted free agent in 2019, he made the initial 53-man roster but never appeared in a regular season game with the team. He’s since spent time with the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before signing with the Eagles late in 2022.
In 2024, he made his first six starts with the team during the middle of the season. Coming into Sunday, he logged two playoff snaps during the Eagles’ current run.
Punter Braden Mann will make his first Super Bowl appearance. On the Steelers’ training camp roster in 2023, he narrowly lost to P Pressley Harvin III after a tight summer competition. Pittsburgh held onto Mann past the cutdown date ostensibly in an attempt to trade him. They found no takes and cut him to be signed by the Eagles. He’s had two strong seasons, averaging 49.2-yards per punt across 2023 and 2024. He only had to punt twice in Sunday’s win in a game where the Eagles and Commanders combined for just three of them.
Finally, there’s veteran OT Le’Raven Clark. Signed by Pittsburgh during the 2023 offseason, he quickly lost ground during camp and failed to make the 53-man roster. Released at final cutdowns, he signed to the Eagles’ practice squad to begin the 2023 season. Clark signed a Reserve/Future contract after the year. He was placed on injured reserve last May with an unknown injury. But he’d still be eligible for a ring should the Eagles prevail.
The Chiefs have their own grouping of former-Steelers. WR JuJu Smith-Schuster is the most notable name, signing with Kansas City in 2022 and winning his first ring with the team last season. After spending last year with the New England Patriots and cut one season into a sizeable three-year deal, he returned to the Chiefs in 2024. Despite wide receiver injuries, Smith-Schuster had a quiet regular season catching just 18 passes. But he made plays in Sunday’s win over the Buffalo Bills, including a 31-yard grab on the Chiefs’ opening possession that ended in a touchdown.
He finished the game with two receptions for 60-yards on three targets.
The other three ex-Steelers reside on the Chiefs’ practice squad. QB Chris Oladokun was the other quarterback drafted in 2022, taken in the seventh round. He failed to make it into a preseason game and stuck as a fourth-string quarterback hardly seeing reps, Pittsburgh cut bait early to allow him a soft landing. Oladokun has won two rings on the Chiefs’ practice squad and will look for his third this year. He’s appeared in just one NFL game, mop-up duty in the team’s Week 18 loss to the Denver Broncos. He was sacked and did not officially attempt a pass.
A pair of corners in Steven Nelson and Darius Rush round things out. Nelson spent 2019 and 2020 with the team before his unceremonious release ahead of 2021, a grudge he seems to still hold against the franchise. Retiring after 2023, he unretired late this season to sign back with the Chiefs and hasn’t appeared in a game this year. Darius Rush spent parts of 2023 and 2024 on the roster, logging 39 snaps on defense and another 39 on special teams across five games. Released by the Steelers in October, he signed with the Chiefs’ practice squad three days later and has spent the rest of the year there.
The Bills have just one ex-Steeler representative in QB Mitch Trubisky. The team’s first option following Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement, Trubisky signed to be Pittsburgh’s starter in 2022. That last 3.5 games before being benched at halftime in Week 4 against the New York Jets, giving way to Kenny Pickett.
Trubisky would make spot starts the rest of the season into 2023. But he struggled to protect the football with 10 interceptions on under 300 pass attempts. Benched late in 2023 for Mason Rudolph, Trubisky was cut after the year and signed with Buffalo for a second stint after rehabbing his image as Josh Allen’s backup in 2021. In relief of him this year, Trubisky attempted 26 passes with a pair of touchdowns.
The Steelers haven’t appeared in a Super Bowl since the 2010 season, losing to the Green Bay Packers.
Super Bowl 59 will be held February 9 in New Orleans.
