The Pittsburgh Steelers surprisingly traded Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday, but the quarterback’s own behavior reportedly led to the move.
Multiple reports on Friday suggested that the Steelers traded Pickett over his response to the team’s signing of Russell Wilson. According to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pickett handled Wilson’s arrival “poorly,” which prompted the trade.
https://twitter.com/gerrydulac/status/1768714477489279072
Albert Breer of The MMQB expanded on the report. Pickett reportedly told the Steelers he would be willing to compete for the starting quarterback job, but reversed his stance when Wilson was signed.
https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/1768716102056489264
There had been growing rumors about Pickett’s attitude since late last season. Pickett was forced to deny a story that he had refused to dress as Mason Rudolph’s backup in Week 17 despite being healthy, which Dulac alluded to in his own report.
It is certainly plausible that the Steelers had no plans to trade Pickett, only to change their stance based on his reaction to the Wilson move. The former first-round pick will have to get used to his new reality after Friday’s trade, as he will have no shot at starting ahead of Jalen Hurts barring injury.
