Eagles Tried to Trade for Justin Fields Before Landing Kenny Pickett

The Philadelphia Eagles have a new backup quarterback in Kenny Pickett after the Pittsburgh Steelers dealt Pickett on Friday. But that almost did not happen, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN. Graziano states that Pittsburgh was the second team the Eagles called, as Philadelphia looked first to see if they could land Justin Fields.

“The Eagles, from what I understand talking to sources around the league, were one of the teams that had talked to the Bears about Justin Fields, but obviously could not get to the point where they agreed on a price, so they traded for Pickett,” Graziano said.

This was later followed up by Eagles team reporter Chris McPherson, who stated that the Eagles were the team that initiated talks between the two sides that would end up sending Pickett to Philadelphia.

“When the Pittsburgh Steelers added veteran Russell Wilson to be their new quarterback, the Eagles saw a valuable opportunity to gauge what it would take to acquire 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett, who was the team’s starter to open the 2023 season, to back up Jalen Hurts,” he wrote.

In his two seasons with the Steelers, Pickett finished with 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions while throwing for 4470 yards. While he was entrenched as a starter for most of last year, he did not get his starting role back once Mason Rudolph caught fire down the stretch. Then, when they signed Wilson, it all put the onus back on the Steelers simply not believing enough in Kenny Pickett, even if they wanted to say they had full faith in him.