Steelers Fire Sale: Top 5 players who must be traded in 2024

3. Kenny Pickett, QB

This is certainly going to be met with controversy by many Steelers fans, but I truly think that I have seen enough from Kenny Pickett at this point. I had Pickett as my 48th overall player entering the 2022 NFL Draft, so his unspectacular performance hasn't come as a big surprise to me. I greatly questioned whether or not he could be a franchise QB, and my initial assessment is looking like it's spot on.

Now the former first-round pick is entering Year 3 and doesn't seem to be improved at all from the player who stepped in from Day 1. Sure, the Steelers could (and perhaps are likely to) go another year with Pickett as their starter, but this would be a mistake.

If Pittsburgh does bring in an established veteran or even draft a QB early, one option is to have an open competition at the position in hopes of pushing him to improve. If he fails, he could become the team's primary backup for the remainder of his contract.

However, I think the best option is to ship him away while he still has trade value. Teams get stuck on the fact that he was a former first-round pick and that could give him some return value. His winning record over his first two seasons as a starter could also come into play (though most of us understand that Pittsburgh was winning in spite of Pickett, not because of him). Maybe some team would throw a third-rounder at us for Pickett. The Steelers could package this pick to trade for or draft an improvement at the position.