The Pittsburgh Steelers have overhauled their quarterback depth chart this offseason. All three quarterbacks from last season, Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky and Mason Rudolph, have been moved.
The Steelers released Trubisky earlier this offseason, while Rudolph was a free agent and signed with the Tennessee Titans. The most surprising move was moving on from Pickett, a first-round pick in 2022 out of Pittsburgh.
He was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a 2024 third-round pick, No. 98 overall and a pair of seventh-round picks. Heading to Philadelphia along with Pickett is a fourth-round pick, No. 120 overall.
Throwing the towel in on a first-round pick after only two seasons is certainly a tough pill to swallow. But if the Steelers are no longer convinced that Pickett is their guy, making a move sooner rather than later makes a lot of sense.
Alas, it turns out that the Eagles weren’t the only team that was interested in acquiring Pickett. According to Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, the New Orleans Saints were also in on the bidding.
According to Fillipponi, the Saints’ offer for Pickett included a fifth-round pick this year and a future late-round pick. Pittsburgh opted to turn that offer down, going with the package offered by the Eagles.
Moving up nearly a full round presents the Steelers with some excellent value, not to mention the extra seventh-round picks they added. A swap may not have been included in the deal with New Orleans, but it would be hard to argue that Pittsburgh made the wrong choice.
Filling out the Steelers quarterback depth chart now is veteran Russell Wilson and 25-year-old Justin Fields. Wilson is the starter according to the team, as Fields will be his backup heading into the season. Making those upgrades without surrendering much in draft capital or money certainly is a win for the franchise, who should have a more potent offense in 2024 than in previous years.
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