Kenny Pickett traded to Eagles.

I'm long since over the fact that Pickett is gone. It's Russburgh now. But what concerns me is moving forward. I'd be more inclined to get on Pickett as the bad guy here but there have been many incidents before where players end up leaving Pittsburgh on ugly terms. The elephant in the room is that the talk around Kenny isn't an isolated incident and this has happened before. James Harrison, Melvin Ingram, LeGarrette Blount to name a few. We just labelled them "cancers" and "malcontents" and they were gone, well its not so easy to write off this time. The Steelers kicked a young QB to the curb what was once their hopeful heir apparent to Ben Roethlisberger.

Regardless of however is wrong here, the incident is pretty ugly, and proves that it was just not handled well at all. It's an organizational failure and it's going to reflect even worse months from now if the Steelers perform well below expectations in '24.

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Originally Posted by Steeler-in-west

But he showed he was good. Not Ben good but who comes out of the gate like Ben?And Canada wanted a ‘mobile’ Qb. Hence it seems obvious why they went after Mitch and promoted him. I think those last four games showed MR is certainly capable. You think he stinks and I think he was a good Qb, certainly good as a backup, as a starter maybe? He still could develope into one.

at this point, both KP and MR are gone. I’m more concerned with the Steelers. I don’t know what was said between KP and Tomlin but what stands out to me most is that the players were behind MR, and then got behind Wilson. So I’m with Wilson also hope he balls out.

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Totally disagree. Rudolph had an extremely low ceiling.

I'm disappointed in both sides here, but more so KP. Disappointed in Steelers mostly for the Canada affair. And, I also think they could have been a little more patient with this demand for Kenny to be traded. There was no hurry. The draft is a month away. They could have traded him after having some time to let him calm down.

As for KP, I have supported him straight through. However, as other have pointed out, his sense of entitlement has got himself into a worse situation than he was here. He still had an excellent chance to play here even if Russ did get the starting job. Everyone knows Russ is not the long-term solution. Even if Hurts gets injured KP has no chance of retaining the starting position. Terry Bradshaw is one of the most immature QB's to star in the NFL. He was so bitter by how he thought he was mistreated, that even years after he retired, he refused to attend either Noll's or "The Chief's" funerals. By his own admission he wasn't all that popular with his own teammates, many of whom preferred Hanratty. But one thing TB did not shy away from was competition. He used his resentment to become a better player. KP could take that page from TB's playbook (after all he called his own plays - just ask him).

OK, so from all I'm hearing about the situation, here is the summary of what happened:

Tomlin: "OK Kenny, forget about that promise I made to you about a fair competition. We're screwing you again with this Wilson situation. And you're gonna sit there and like it."

Kenny: "Like hell I am."

Tomlin: "What? You dare to talk back to me after I got done screwing you? That just shows what a horrible person you are. OK, just for that we're gonna make sure we trade you to a team where you have no chance to start, even if we have to hurt ourselves by taking less than we could have gotten from some team that really wanted you and would have given you a chance. That'll teach you."

So the bottom line now is that the two QB's that Tomlin screwed over have been set up as scapegoats and shown the door, while the coach who screwed them over stays. Whether you believe this or not, up until now my problems with Tomlin haven't been personal but were just related to his poor record, and in the unlikely event that Tomlin would have righted the ship and started winning playoff games and making the Steelers into a legitimate Super Bowl contender again I would have happily cheered his success and admitted I was wrong about him. But now, after seeing the petulant and vindictive way he handled the two QB's he should have been apologizing to for his own failed coaching, I truly despise the man.

As for Pickett, like Rudolph he is in the long run much better off by getting away from Tomlin. The only question is whether Tomlin's mishandling of him has damaged his reputation so much that he will never be given a legitimate chance. If he does get that chance, with a coach who actually knows what he's doing as far as developing quarterbacks, I expect Pickett to make the most of that chance and show the Kenny-bashers, whether they be in the locker room or in the media or on this board, just how wrong they were.

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Originally Posted by Mojouw

Assume all that to be true.

Other than draft position, what has ever happened to justify KP pouting about not starting?

If he was a 4th round pick and acted the same way; who would put up with it?

Sorry. I was on KPs side. I wanted to see him get a chance with a fresh offense. I wrote off the end of last year as baseless nonsense.

Now? It seems like KP's kinda entitled with no justification. Seems not dissimilar to the Zach Wilson situation with the Jets.

I'm still NOT a fan of the Wilson signing.

But, I'm starting to think KP's a whiny nothing. That would go a long way towards explaining why almost all his teammates turned on him last season.

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He may be a whiny nothing. What surprises me all the time anymore is how everyone just overlooks anything monumentally stupid and substandard the organization or Mike Tomlin does.

Over 2 years we watched this entire thing unfold, yet the vast majority of people comment on everything about the situation except the people that oversaw the entire plan from beginning to end. They orchestrated the drafting and development of Pickett and the other quarterbacks on the team. They hand selected Matt Canada as the person that was going to develop him and coach him. They had no idea that Mitch Trubisky couldn't play football and had to find out through desperation that Mason Rudolph could after years of seeing these guys play the game and Rudolph was the #3 quarterback.

The people in charge of deciding who plays and who doesn't, and the people that decide if it's time for other talent don't know what the fuck they are looking at. I have no more direct way of saying it.

If people here can't see that an organization that allows their first round pick quarterback to find out that he has been replaced by the new quarterback's hype video on social media, there is a bigger problem than a quarterback being whiny.

Seeing people here ignore the elephant in the room is baffling.

As I said, I hope Khan is now in charge of things and cleaning house. I'm OK with that. But if Khan is simply following the orders of the people that caused all this in the first place, chances are the shitty decisions are going to keep happening.

That's what my post was about. The way the entire situation has been handled by the Steelers. It is completely substandard from the top down. There is no other way to say it.

My hope is that it is in the process of being corrected, but there is no way to know for sure at this point.

I said it when he was hired, I said it when he “killed Ben”, I said it when he made Trubisky look worse, Pickett look inept, I said it many, many times last season…Matt Canada was a cancer that these team waited too long to get treatment on and now it’s really showing. He was by far, the worst mistake the front office has made, in maybe the history of the franchise. He set the organization back for 4-5 seasons. Wasted so much time…valuable time…player evaluation time. Career time…

Pickett was/is the poster child, unfortunately, for that mistake.

Not all Canadas fault though…he was in it for the paycheck. Tomlin and the front offices fault for letting him influence the offense for 4 seasons when it was CLEAR that just looking at his wiki-page, he wasn’t qualified…

All is not lost though because the second round pick was more or less a high first round value so that lessens the blow…

Everyone (not just the NFL teams but the fans too) knew that Canada was not NFL caliber...only the Steelers didn't think that during and after 2022....What a disaster

Pickett deserves a lot of blame and I was never confident in his long term future because of his low ceilling...I never thought he was going to be good enough....But the Steelers put him in a horrible situation like crazy and Tomlin deserves so much heat on this because of the Matt Canada situation

Bill Cowher has been criticized in the past for the way he handled his QBs pre-Ben, but it was never close to being bad as Tomlin in the last two years....At least Neil O'Donnell and Kordell had their moment...I agree that 1998 and 1999 were bad but not like that!

I can not believe some think we could have got more from someone else for KP (VOR) give us all a break here nearly the entire 2022 QB class has been traded away and NONE of them brought much in terms of a return ..Face the music he wasnt worth more because he isnt very good

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/ke...ified-qb-swap/

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Originally Posted by Dwinsgames

that is a ridiculous take , why would we draft higher next year using a better QB than the 3 headed monster we had last year and with a legit NFL offense about to be installed

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We'll see. Maybe, just maybe RW isn't the guy he was 10 years ago.

I can't help but think that the stuff that Aditi Kikibwhala say about what was promised to Kenny was taken out of context by either her or her "source". Could it have been the case that whatever was said by tomlin was referring to Wilson starting as QB1 to start OTAs or mini camp? I'm most likely way off, but was just a thought. I also have to think that if Kenny getting wind of literally every leader on defense working to recruit Wilson to the Steelers factored into the trade request. Pretty telling when anyone on defense that matters is more or less saying that you suck.

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Originally Posted by Bluecoat96

I can't help but think that the stuff that Aditi Kikibwhala say about what was promised to Kenny was taken out of context by either her or her "source". Could it have been the case that whatever was said by tomlin was referring to Wilson starting as QB1 to start OTAs or mini camp? I'm most likely way off, but was just a thought. I also have to think that if Kenny getting wind of literally every leader on defense working to recruit Wilson to the Steelers factored into the trade request. Pretty telling when anyone on defense that matters is more or less saying that you suck.

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Bingo. Back to back to back 3 and outs and hauling their asses back onto the field after a 2 minute rest. However, nothing is going to change until they get real serious about the center position and the O line issues.

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Originally Posted by 86WARD

Totally disagree. Rudolph had an extremely low ceiling.

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I totally agree. Rudolph had multiple chances to establish himself as the starter. He didn’t. That tie against a winless Detroit team was all I needed to see. He’s a proven backup and that’s it.

As for Kenny, basically he didn’t show enough on the field for Khan or Tomlin to feel any need or desire to keep him. Even as a backup. And they must have decided that he would be more toxic to keep around. I don’t see Khan wanting to purposefully do Kenny a favor by trading him. It was done because he felt it was better for the team. That’s saying a lot about Kenny without saying a lot

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Originally Posted by pczach

He may be a whiny nothing. What surprises me all the time anymore is how everyone just overlooks anything monumentally stupid and substandard the organization or Mike Tomlin does.

Over 2 years we watched this entire thing unfold, yet the vast majority of people comment on everything about the situation except the people that oversaw the entire plan from beginning to end. They orchestrated the drafting and development of Pickett and the other quarterbacks on the team. They hand selected Matt Canada as the person that was going to develop him and coach him. They had no idea that Mitch Trubisky couldn't play football and had to find out through desperation that Mason Rudolph could after years of seeing these guys play the game and Rudolph was the #3 quarterback.

The people in charge of deciding who plays and who doesn't, and the people that decide if it's time for other talent don't know what the fuck they are looking at. I have no more direct way of saying it.

If people here can't see that an organization that allows their first round pick quarterback to find out that he has been replaced by the new quarterback's hype video on social media, there is a bigger problem than a quarterback being whiny.

Seeing people here ignore the elephant in the room is baffling.

As I said, I hope Khan is now in charge of things and cleaning house. I'm OK with that. But if Khan is simply following the orders of the people that caused all this in the first place, chances are the shitty decisions are going to keep happening.

That's what my post was about. The way the entire situation has been handled by the Steelers. It is completely substandard from the top down. There is no other way to say it.

My hope is that it is in the process of being corrected, but there is no way to know for sure at this point.

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I do think this team is adrift with the QB position.

Signing a bridge QB, much less Trubisky, was an obvious and clear mistake. They did it anyway.

Not letting KP play from the minute he was drafted compounded that mistake. They did it anyway.

Retaining Canada for stability during KP 's second year was a mistake. They did it anyway.

Benching KP at the end of last season and for the playoffs made his removal from the roster inevitable. They did it anyway.

Signing Russell Wilson is at best rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic and at worst lighting the Titanic on fire. They did it anyway.

All of these mistakes were clear and obvious to many observers. The team made them anyways because they've prioritized winning an individual game over long term team building.

The belief they were a step away from a deep playoff run has bedeviled this team since about 2020 or so. They've made short-term focused roster decisions again and again.

QB is just the most visible. Until the Steelers accept the reality that they are MANY steps away from consistently wining in the playoffs and commit to the long, difficult, and painful process of building out the roster; the bad decisions will continue.

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Originally Posted by Mojouw

I do think this team is adrift with the QB position.

Signing a bridge QB, much less Trubisky, was an obvious and clear mistake. They did it anyway.

Not letting KP play from the minute he was drafted compounded that mistake. They did it anyway.

Retaining Canada for stability during KP 's second year was a mistake. They did it anyway.

Benching KP at the end of last season and for the playoffs made his removal from the roster inevitable. They did it anyway.

Signing Russell Wilson is at best rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic and at worst lighting the Titanic on fire. They did it anyway.

All of these mistakes were clear and obvious to many observers. The team made them anyways because they've prioritized winning an individual game over long term team building.

The belief they were a step away from a deep playoff run has bedeviled this team since about 2020 or so. They've made short-term focused roster decisions again and again.

QB is just the most visible. Until the Steelers accept the reality that they are MANY steps away from consistently wining in the playoffs and commit to the long, difficult, and painful process of building out the roster; the bad decisions will continue.

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that bold is mighty bold , especially with a team that is LOADED on defense with still more time in FA to add on offense and the entire draft yet ahead .... this team IMO is well positioned to make a run

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Originally Posted by ETL

I totally agree. Rudolph had multiple chances to establish himself as the starter. He didn’t. That tie against a winless Detroit team was all I needed to see. He’s a proven backup and that’s it.

As for Kenny, basically he didn’t show enough on the field for Khan or Tomlin to feel any need or desire to keep him. Even as a backup. And they must have decided that he would be more toxic to keep around. I don’t see Khan wanting to purposefully do Kenny a favor by trading him. It was done because he felt it was better for the team. That’s saying a lot about Kenny without saying a lot

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I don't think Khan did Kenny any favors by trading him to Philly. Obviously, there is a chance Hurts gets injured and KP becomes a hero. But long-term he has no future in Philly, and unless he does succeed in Hurt's absence next year, He had little FA value going forward. I have to wonder what KP was thinking - if he was thinking - when he asked for the trade. Was he just in a blind rage and wanted out? Or, was he envisioning himself getting traded somewhere where he had a shot?

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Originally Posted by ETL

I totally agree. Rudolph had multiple chances to establish himself as the starter. He didn’t. That tie against a winless Detroit team was all I needed to see. He’s a proven backup and that’s it.

As for Kenny, basically he didn’t show enough on the field for Khan or Tomlin to feel any need or desire to keep him. Even as a backup. And they must have decided that he would be more toxic to keep around. I don’t see Khan wanting to purposefully do Kenny a favor by trading him. It was done because he felt it was better for the team. That’s saying a lot about Kenny without saying a lot

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well said

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Originally Posted by Steeldude

Mason was never really given a chance. He was given about 10 games and then tossed aside. In those few games he showed he was far better than Pickett. Pickett was given a starting position for 1+ years based on draft pick status rather than merit.

Would you say Pickett was limited and needed specific game plans and playcalls?

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You completely ignore that we had Canada as our OC, in your crazy hatred of KP. MR didn’t play a game under Canada, and won games. KP had the best game of his career and was on the verge of a TD when he got injured on the opening drive of his second game after Canada was gone. Trubisky was terrible under Canada and Ben was terrible under Canada. Canada was the reason our offense was terrible, the fact that your hatred of a QB blinds you to that is annoying to say the least.

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Originally Posted by Steeldude

Mason was never really given a chance. He was given about 10 games and then tossed aside. In those few games he showed he was far better than Pickett.

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If you're talking about 2019, he got benched after tossing 4 INTs against the Browns for a guy who isn't even in the league anymore (Hodges)...

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Originally Posted by Bluecoat96

I can't help but think that the stuff that Aditi Kikibwhala say about what was promised to Kenny was taken out of context by either her or her "source". Could it have been the case that whatever was said by tomlin was referring to Wilson starting as QB1 to start OTAs or mini camp? I'm most likely way off, but was just a thought. I also have to think that if Kenny getting wind of literally every leader on defense working to recruit Wilson to the Steelers factored into the trade request. Pretty telling when anyone on defense that matters is more or less saying that you suck.

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She's been on the ball about other things in the past and is very knowledgeable. After reading through four pages of responses, I'm surprised no one mentioning Ramon Foster said earlier in the week, after the Wilson news broke, that if he were KP, he'd be on the phone to his agent asking for a way out of Pittsburgh. That has to make you wonder a bit outside the lack of maturity scenario. DK of DK Pittsburgh Sports also threw shade on the whole Pickett refusing to dress against Seattle bit, too, and he's one of the few legit journalists who doesn't put "Yellow" journalism into the mix when discussing the black and yellow.

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Originally Posted by Dwinsgames

that bold is mighty bold , especially with a team that is LOADED on defense with still more time in FA to add on offense and the entire draft yet ahead .... this team IMO is well positioned to make a run

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Here are the positions that the Steelers lack SB contender quality starters or depth at:

Center
Right Tackle
Quarterback
WR (they need about 2-3 more guys and they can't all be inexperienced rookies)
TE - they need depth behind Friermuth
DL - I am not sure they have viable DE's behind the starters
OLB - they need another depth piece
ILB - They have 2 they can count on. They need 4-5.
DB - They have 3 guys they can count on (MF, JPJ, and Eliot). They need about 4 more answers across the group.

That is one heck of a shopping list. This team is a year away from a run. They can be a division round playoff team. But the pieces need to gel and come together first.

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Originally Posted by pczach

The people in charge of deciding who plays and who doesn't, and the people that decide if it's time for other talent don't know what the fuck they are looking at. I have no more direct way of saying it.

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THIS !!! x 1,000

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Originally Posted by Bluecoat96

I can't help but think that the stuff that Aditi Kikibwhala say about what was promised to Kenny was taken out of context by either her or her "source". Could it have been the case that whatever was said by tomlin was referring to Wilson starting as QB1 to start OTAs or mini camp? I'm most likely way off, but was just a thought. I also have to think that if Kenny getting wind of literally every leader on defense working to recruit Wilson to the Steelers factored into the trade request. Pretty telling when anyone on defense that matters is more or less saying that you suck.

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I love Cam Heyward and TJ Watt as players, but when a team starts allowing its players to make personnel decisions, it's over.

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Originally Posted by Mojouw

Here are the positions that the Steelers lack SB contender quality starters or depth at:

Center
Right Tackle
Quarterback
WR (they need about 2-3 more guys and they can't all be inexperienced rookies)
TE - they need depth behind Friermuth
DL - I am not sure they have viable DE's behind the starters
OLB - they need another depth piece
ILB - They have 2 they can count on. They need 4-5.
DB - They have 3 guys they can count on (MF, JPJ, and Eliot). They need about 4 more answers across the group.

That is one heck of a shopping list. This team is a year away from a run. They can be a division round playoff team. But the pieces need to gel and come together first.

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You can say that about any team and even Super Bowl teams…

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Originally Posted by EzraTank

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/ke...ified-qb-swap/

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The key word in this article is "panicky". Tomlin was clearly feeling the heat from his poor playoff record and Rooney's comment that the team had to do better, and he panicked. And as usual, when someone panics they start making bad decisions. Tomlin's bad decisions this offseason have not only screwed the team this year, but for several more years to come.

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Originally Posted by Voice of Reason

I love Cam Heyward and TJ Watt as players, but when a team starts allowing its players to make personnel decisions, it's over.

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I don't know if it's a matter of them making personnel decisions, but rather them simply advocating for Russ to come to the Steelers. I'd imagine that happens a lot with free agents around the league. It could have been the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back" for Kenny. In truth, I have no clue. Lol

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Originally Posted by Mojouw

Here are the positions that the Steelers lack SB contender quality starters or depth at:

Center
Right Tackle
Quarterback
WR (they need about 2-3 more guys and they can't all be inexperienced rookies)
TE - they need depth behind Friermuth
DL - I am not sure they have viable DE's behind the starters
OLB - they need another depth piece
ILB - They have 2 they can count on. They need 4-5.
DB - They have 3 guys they can count on (MF, JPJ, and Eliot). They need about 4 more answers across the group.

That is one heck of a shopping list. This team is a year away from a run. They can be a division round playoff team. But the pieces need to gel and come together first.

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:rofl2:

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Originally Posted by 86WARD

You can say that about any team and even Super Bowl teams…

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There are SB teams that don't have a Center on the roster?

There are SB teams that lack talent at the QB position? I guess the Niners....but they had almost zero questions at other roster spots last year.

There are SB teams with ONE legitimate NFL starting caliber WR? The Chiefs last season? But then having the modern-day QB champ on the roster kinda makes up for that...


Sorry...but they don't have to patch all those holes. But this team is two off-seasons away from a SB -- at least.

Was it Tomlin or Omar that told Kenny he was QB1?

Was it Tomlin or Omar that told everyone there would be competition at the QB position?

Was it Tomlin or Omar that signed Russell Wilson to be that competition?

I think I'm reading a different story than some of you guys. Football is all about competition. Not at all about fairness and equal chances. Did Kenny choose to run from one competition vs a SB QB into another competition vs a SB QB? I don't think Kenny can beat out Russ or Hurts. I'm not sure he would have beaten Rudolph as some on here wanted. I honestly don't think Kenny would run away with QB1 vs Tannehill had he been brought in, as was speculated. How many of this year's crop of QB draft prospects(top10) were going to struggle in competition vs Kenny?

I understand there is an idea in a fan's head about how things 'should' be. Then there is the reality of sports and business.