Steelers Thought Signing Russell Wilson Would Have Benefited Kenny Pickett

Kenny Pickett was the Pittsburgh Steelers only quarterback on the roster prior to free agency, so the Steelers had to make additions. But the Russell Wilson signing was not what Pickett expected. He probably would have been fine with a Ryan Tannehill signing, but he didn’t like the fact that Mike Tomlin told him that Wilson would be in pole position to be the starter.

Pickett was irritated by the Steelers supposedly not keeping their word that he would be the clear-cut starter, and he requested a trade. The Steelers obliged and sent him to Philadelphia. That’s when the floodgates for Justin Fields opened up for Pittsburgh.

However, Brook Pryor of ESPN claims that the Steelers never assured Wilson that he would start before he signed, and he never asked for any, either.

“Wilson didn’t ask for assurances about a starting job, according to a source familiar with the conversations, and the Steelers didn’t give any.

“He’s competed all of his life,” the source said. “He’s not afraid of it,” Pryor wrote.

Pryor also stated that the Steelers thought learning from a nine-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion would have benefited Pickett in his development, along with adding extra motivation for the young quarterback.

“One team source said that adding Wilson ‘would have been a benefit to Kenny,’ and the pursuit of Wilson would ‘kick Kenny into gear’ and reignite the competitive fire that had made him so attractive to Pittsburgh in the draft evaluation process. Instead, it did the opposite.”

Even though things didn’t workout for Pickett in Pittsburgh. Steelers general manager Omar Khan still believes he has a promising future.

“Nothing has changed. I still have a lot of faith in Kenny Pickett,” Khan said at the NFL owner’s meetings. “Kenny’s a good football player, a good quarterback. I think he’s got a big future in the NFL. Things just kind of evolved. I couldn’t really have foreseen that things would go the way they did.”