Getty Image / Dylan Buell
The Kenny Pickett experiment in Pittsburgh is officially over. The 2022 first-round-pick out of their fellow Acrisure Stadium tenants, Pitt, was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday in an exchange that involved mid-round picks for both teams.
The starting job in Pittsburgh had looked out of reach for Kenny Pickett since Monday, when the Steelers and Russell Wilson agreed to a deal. And, according to a new report, it appears that it was Kenny Pickett’s bad attitude about the situation that led to his trade away from Pittsburgh.
Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that his trade stemmed in part from his reaction to the acquisition of Wilson and for his reaction to not getting the starting job back after returning from injury late in the season.
The Steelers made the move because of the way Pickett was poorly handling the arrival of Russell Wilson, according to sources. That came on the heels of Pickett's behavior last season when he refused to dress as the emergency third quarterback in Seattle in Week 17. https://t.co/mirLR1UJFP
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) March 15, 2024
If you remember, Pickett was injured in the team’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals on December 3 of last season. He had the “tight-rope” procedure done on his ankle, and was expected back for the end of the regular season. But, when Mason Rudolph, who got the starting job after Mitch Trubisky was benched, started to play well, PIckett was not given the job back when he was healthy again in Week 17. He did not have the best body language even before he was able to return, as evidenced in Pittsburgh’s Week 16 win over the Bengals.
Ultimately, it’s his play on the field that landed him in this situation. Pickett has the lowest touchdown percentage in NFL history for someone with as many attempts as he has. Quite frankly, it was a huge reach at the time in a terrible quarterback class in the 2022 NFL Draft. Through 713 career attempts, he has just 13 touchdowns to go against 13 interceptions. That’s simply not good at all.
Now, he will be the backup to Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia. Hopefully he handles being the backup much better this time around.