The Pittsburgh Steelers are stuck in stasis. Not good enough for a Super Bowl. Not bad enough to truly rebuild.
In one way, this is a gift. Steelers fans, some of the most loyal across the globe, haven’t had to suffer through awful seasons. Pittsburgh is perpetually in the playoff hunt and knows it has one of the NFL’s best coaches, a man who can turn chicken crap into chicken salad given enough time to rewrite his recipe book.
On the other hand, it’s a curse. The Steelers are not a threat to anything outside the playoff seeding of their AFC North rivals. It’s been eight years since they won a postseason game. They haven’t been bad enough their own top 12 draft pick since selecting Ben Roethlisberger. They’ve been the backdrop for frustrating quarterbacking and unsustainable no-no-no-YES wins the last five seasons.
So, with all that in mind, Pittsburgh made a move designed to jolt them out of hibernation, for better or worse. In came Russell Wilson on a one year, $1.2 million contract. Less than a week later, out went Kenny Pickett.
Trade: Steelers are sending QB Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles in a pick swap, sources tell ESPN.
Once Pittsburgh signed Russell Wilson, Pickett preferred to move on. pic.twitter.com/cvsAP2e8lB
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 15, 2024
Pickett would have had the chance to compete with Wilson, the quarterback the Denver Broncos paid $85 million just to go away, for the starting job. Instead, he decided he wanted to go elsewhere and the Steelers agreed. With Mason Rudolph a Tennessee Titan and Mitchell Trubisky now forcing the Buffalo Bills to pray their starting quarterback doesn’t get hurt, Pittsburgh’s QB depth chart looks like this:
- Russell Wilson
- End of list.
Reinforcements will come, but it’s hard to argue anyone the team adds this spring will be better than Pickett. The former first round pick wasn’t good by any traditional measure, but he did come through with big throws when the Steelers needed him, often hitting George Pickens with picture perfect back-shoulder throws near the sideline. Granted, that only happened two to three times per game, but that’s enough to make him a viable backup — certainly more viable than the chaff lingering in free agency or a top-heavy rookie quarterback class that’ll likely be missing its top four prospects (or maybe more) by the time the Steelers make the 20th pick.
Trading Pickett is a message. This team is going to sink or swim with Wilson at the helm. Mike Tomlin is Hernan Cortez, and by dealing away last year’s starter he’s telling his roster the ships have been burned. There’s no way out but through; no retreat to functional mediocrity. Either Wilson rises to the occasion and the Steelers find the playoff success that’s eluded them since 2016 or this team fails its way into a new era.
The timing isn’t perfect. Wilson clearly isn’t the player he once was, even if his 2023 suggests he isn’t quite as bad as his Broncos tenure lets on. Sinking to the top of next year’s draft class will give way to a thus-far underwhelming crop of replacement quarterbacks — not as bad as the class that let Pittsburgh take the first passer off the board with the 20th pick by selecting Pickett in 2022, but not nearly as talented as this spring’s group.
Still, it’s a move that needed to be done. It’s a jolt to a team that desperately needed one and a sign the Steelers aren’t content to rest on their laurels. Maybe it’s the move before the move — a shakeup before adding Justin Fields or another quarterback who won’t explicitly change the dance or die breaking point of 2024. Or maybe it’s a message to Wilson, telling him and the world this is his last chance to land the plane when it comes to his post-Seahawks legacy and the runway has been cleared.
Either way, Pittsburgh is primed to either thrive or crash their way into a new era. After more than a decade of “just OK” results, either would be a step in the right direction.
