UNBELIEVABLE …..STEELERS QUARTERBACK KENNY PICKETT TERMINATED HIS CONTRACT DUE TO……
Quarterback Kenny Pickett already said goodbye to Pittsburgh on social media. But he further addressed his departure from the Pittsburgh Steelers during his introductory press conference with the Philadelphia Eagles on March 18
First, Pickett provided a few details to a question about why he wanted to leave the Steelers.
“I just thought it was time,” Pickett said, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. “It just felt like it was time from the things that transpired. Wanted to get a chance to go somewhere else and continue to grow my career.”
The Steelers traded Pickett five days after agreeing to a contract with quarterback Russell Wilson. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported the Steelers were planning to have Wilson receive the first-team repetitions at OTAs but then have Pickett compete with him for the starting role after that.
That was enough for Pickett to want out of Pittsburgh. Breer wrote that Pickett felt “mislead” because Tomlin told him days prior to Wilson agreeing to his contract that there’d be an open competition for the job.
After feeling mislead, Pickett canceled a workout with teammates the day after Wilson agreed to his deal, according to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac.
Pickett, though, expressed no regret over how he handled his departure from the Steelers.
“I think the communication is what it is,” Pickett said about what happened between him and the team before and after Wilson signed his contract. “It was behind closed doors. I’m confident with the way I handled it.
“I handled it the way I should have handled it.”
Kenny Pickett Addresses Report He Refused to Be Third-String QB
The Steelers signing Wilson may have been the beginning of the end to Pickett’s tenure. But problems with the Pickett-Steelers relationship stem back to Week 17 of the 2023 season.
TribLive.com’s Mark Madden reported on January 1 that Pickett “100 percent refused” to be the backup for the Steelers in their matchup against the Seattle Seahawks on December 31. Dulac, and multiple other Steelers insiders, have confirmed that report but added that it was the emergency third quarterback role Pickett refused to serve in.
Pickett was Pittsburgh’s backup in Week 18 and then in its playoff game the following week.
The 2022 first-round pick strongly denied Madden’s report on January 2. He addressed them again in his Eagles introductory press conference with a softer denial.
