Omar Khan thinks Kenny Pickett will be a good quarterback even after they trade him. He claimed that the Pittsburgh Steelers had no intention of moving Pickett. However, Pickett was granted his wish to leave the team because of its “volunteers not hostages” philosophy.
During this week’s NFL Owners Meetings in Orlando, Khan expressed to the media that he still has “a lot of faith” in Pickett.
According to Dale Lolley of Steelers.com, Khan stated, “I think he’s got a big future.”
As reported by Lolley, Khan said that the team’s original plan did not include making these movements.
“It was not in my power to predict how things would turn out.”
In a longer statement that was uploaded to the team website, Khan would say to Lolley, “If you would have told me a month ago in Indy that we’d be here and Russell Wilson and Justin Fields would be our quarterbacks, I’d say, I’d be a little bit surprised.”
Pittsburgh talked about Pickett’s play for the majority of January and February, the offseason. According to Mike Tomlin, the starting quarterback for the Steelers in 2024 was likely on the team in 2023. After a difficult 2023 season, the organisation voiced faith in Pickett’s potential to recover, but ownership played down the prospect of making a big trade for a quarterback.
Ultimately, the quarterback room of the Steelers was drastically altered by them. In 2024, all three of the players from the 2023 roster will be playing elsewhere. Mason Rudolph signed a one-year contract in Tennessee, Mitch Trubisky returned to Buffalo, and Pickett was traded to Philadelphia.
Justin Fields and Russell Wilson will take their spots. Wilson was the first addition, reaching a deal before the start of free agency, and he seems to be the driving force behind the acquisition of Pickett. According to Tomlin, who verified the allegation, Pickett requested a “change of scenery” after finding out Wilson would be the favourite to start at quarterback.
The Steelers, who only had one quarterback on the field, decided to reexamine a trade for Fields, and they acquired him the day after shipping away Pickett. A 2025 conditional sixth round selection, which drops to a fourth if Fields plays at least 51 percent of the team’s offensive snaps in 2024, was an inexpensive acquisition.
Situated slightly over an hour from his homeland of New Jersey, Pickett is currently an Eagle. He was pleased to start again last week during his inaugural press conference, despite growing up as an Eagles fan. However, he’ll clearly be starting quarterback Jalen Hurts’ backup and only get into the game in the event of an injury. He would have at least been able to fight for the position in Pittsburgh, but it’s evident that he believed the Steelers were all set to go. And he declined to linger and inquire further.
Follow Mike Tomlin’s advice and establish a strategy, but also be flexible. There was some part of the Steelers’ plot including Pickett. However, they moved quickly to improve their quarterback room after realising that this was untenable.
