Why Steelers turned the page on Kenny Pickett after 24 starts

PITTSBURGH — Six hundred and eighty-seven days after being drafted, Kenny Pickett, the No. 20 pick and owner of quarterback Art Rooney II introduced on April 29, 2022 as the man who broke all of Dan's college records Marino, is missing.

Traded to Philadelphia, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter, hours after the Pittsburgh Steelers welcomed Russell Wilson into their building, Pickett's departure doesn't mean a complete overhaul of the organization's thinking loyal and old-fashioned. If anything, it reinforces this fundamental principle at the heart of the franchise. It’s also an admission that the organization was wrong.

Limited by a lower talent level than his draft pick and stubborn decision-makers who intervened too late, Pickett expressed his displeasure with Wilson's signing by requesting a trade. It marked the end of an era that some say should never have begun.

The root of the problem, however, lies not in Pickett, but in the organization's refusal to establish a clear succession plan behind Ben Roethlisberger.

In chasing the ghosts of the past, the Steelers failed to adequately prepare for their future, preferring instead to rewrite the organization's previous mistakes and cling to the glory days.

And now, two years after Roethlisberger's long-awaited retirement, the team finds itself exactly where it was trying to avoid: square one… almost.

Wilson's signing, the impetus for Pickett's journey across the Commonwealth, prevents the Steelers from starting completely from scratch. At 35, Wilson's best years are behind him, but he is more than capable of being a solid bridge quarterback, especially after a season where he threw 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He told a news conference Friday that he “felt like myself again.”

It's the kind of move the Steelers arguably should have made two years ago to avoid searching for a quarterback in a historically poor signal-caller class. And they almost did, but after signing former first-round pick Mitch Trubisky to a modest two-year deal, the organization undercut the veteran by drafting Pickett less than two months later.

Of course, the Steelers could have avoided this scenario if they had invested significant recruiting capital into the quarterback position. Instead, the team drafted Mason Rudolph with a third-round pick in 2018. And after Rudolph's selection was met with disdain by Roethlisberger, the team did not use another pick on a quarterback -back until Roethlisberger officially retired following a wild-card loss. Kansas City Chiefs on January 16, 2022. Although Roethlisberger returned from season-ending elbow surgery in 2019 for the 2020 and 2021 seasons, it was clear his days were numbered.

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The team, however, let Roethlisberger largely dictate the end of his career. When Roethlisberger finally retired, the team had two quarterbacks on the roster: Rudolph and former first-rounder Dwayne Haskins. The team signed Trubisky in March 2022. Haskins, who showed promise with a fresh start after beginning his career in Washington, tragically died a month later.

The formula might have worked if the Steelers had drafted another quarterback that year. Trubisky could have started for one season while a rookie developed behind the scenes and eventually took over in his second season – much like Patrick Mahomes working behind Alex Smith for a season. But using a valuable first-round pick on the city's adopted son and Pitt football hero? Trubisky never had a chance.

The chants for Pickett began as soon as training camp opened at St. Vincent College, and four weeks into the season, Tomlin pulled Trubisky for Pickett at halftime, unceremoniously beginning the team's tenure. rookie as starting quarterback. Pickett found bursts of magic in his first season, leading three fourth-quarter comebacks, and he showed motivation and intangibles that suggested maybe the Steelers really had found something. But after what turned out to be a golden preseason for fools, the pixie dust ran out. Pickett finished his tenure with the Steelers in uniform on the bench while Rudolph started one playoff game.

From the rubble of the Pickett fallout, the Steelers have the opportunity to build a stronger future.

With Pickett gone, the Steelers are no longer burdened with a first-round quarterback who isn't living up to expectations. There is no longer a countdown clock counting down the days until the club must make a fifth-year option decision on him in May 2025.

Instead, the team has just one quarterback on the roster, the one who spent time Friday afternoon expressing the joy he felt in mentoring young teammates, and the one who helped Jarrett Stidham, his presumed successor in Denver, prepare for his first start with the Broncos.

There also happens to be a former first-round quarterback on the trade market who could benefit from a year of apprenticeship under an accomplished professional and Super Bowl-winning playmaker. By trading Pickett, the Steelers opened the door to a potential trade for Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields, something that seemed nearly impossible as the organization — and more recently general manager Omar Khan — outwardly expressed “full confidence” in their own young people. , local quarterback.

With Pickett gone, the pretense can be abandoned and the Steelers have an opportunity not to do it again, but to establish a clear path forward without any baggage from the past.

In the two years since he took over after the 2022 draft, Khan has proven capable of bucking Steelers traditions with big-name free agent signings and trades at the deadline and during the draft. A few breaths after expressing that confidence in Pickett in Indianapolis two weeks ago, Khan also said the position would be “highly competitive.” And although he smiled when reporters asked him about the possibility of signing free agent quarterbacks or making a dramatic trade, Khan was also clear that he had “an obligation to look at every avenue possible to try to make us a better football team.” “

Friday was the first step.