The Steelers decided to bite the bullet this offseason and move on from Kenny Pickett. Despite the team christening him as the next big thing when they took him in the first round, two bad seasons and the availability of Russell Wilson closed his door as the starter. While the intention was for a pseudo-quarterback battle between the two, the writing was on the wall, Pickett was discontent, and Pittsburgh shipped him across the state to the Eagles.
The return wasn’t much. The Steelers swapped a fourth-round pick for the Eagles third this year, roughly a 20-pick jump, and a pair of seventh-round picks in the 2025 draft. For someone who was deemed the future of this franchise, that is pennies on the dollar. Looking back on it now though, it seems like arguably the best move this team made in the offseason.
I was quick to say that the team should have cut bait with Pickett after Wilson was signed. His play alone was enough to warrant moving on from him, but league-wide this was the best chance to capitalize on what little value he had left. Had he stuck around for 2024 and sat on the bench, he would have next to no value next year. Instead, Pittsburgh got some small pick upgrades and the Eagles got what should be a competent second quarterback.
Steelers look like early winners in this deal
For a wide variety of reasons, it seems like the Steelers have come out as the better team from this deal. While Pickett garnered some hype early in his Eagles career, he has seemingly fallen on his face since then. He has stacked some bad practices and his preseason performances have been lackluster. This culminated in the second game, where he posted an abysmal 11 completions for only 67 yards.
Worse yet, Picket is still playing with the same issues that plagued him in Pittsburgh. Despite it being a preseason game, he is still struggling to make plays down the field and his average pass attempt last night was extremely short. While the Matt Canada offense was a part of the blame, it seems like Pickett is also lacking enough talent to cut it in the NFL.
Despite the trade to acquire him, he is being outplayed by Tanner McKee right now, and the backup job could realistically end up being his. If Pickett is sitting as the third-string option for the Eagles this year, it could be the final nail in the coffin of his career.
While the Steelers didn’t get a lot of value on paper for Pickett, the early returns have been great. While we won’t know what will come from the seventh-round picks we got for Pickett until next year, the trade-up for the extra third-round pick was fruitful.
The Steelers selected Payton Wilson with that pick, and he has already made a lot of noise in training camp. He played the best of the rookie class so far and already appears set to work in a rotation with the other linebackers. He is even garnering some sleeper hype as a defensive rookie of the year candidate.
At this point, it seems clear that the Steelers won the Pickett trade. It allowed them to overhaul and improve their quarterback room drastically while also landing them an asset in Wilson on defense. I hold no ill will toward Pickett but Pittsburgh was wise to get what they could for him this year and cut ties all together.