After selecting him in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers chose to cut ties with quarterback Kenny Pickett and trade him to the Philadelphia Eagles at the start of free agency. Pickett had been in and out of the starting lineup during his two years and the team clearly didn’t see enough from him to go forward with him as the starter.
But the team did plan to keep Pickett on the roster, even after adding Russell Wilson. But it was rumored that the reason the Steelers decided to trade Pickett was because he didn’t handle the Wilson news the way the Steelers had hoped.
This was something Pickett’s old quarterback coach Tony Racioppi refuted.
“I would say the majority of those narratives were pushed by people. And they are 100 percent BS …,” Racioppi said. “I would put his leadership ability against anybody out there.”
While we appreciate Racioppi going to bat for his guy, what everyone saw on the field was very different. Pickett struggled mightily with his ability to run the Steelers offense and he did not have the confidence of his teammates. He also didn’t have the confidence of the coaches last season when the team chose to keep Mason Rudolph in the starting lineup after Pickett was healthy.
