The Pittsburgh Steelers have completely redone their quarterback room this offseason, trading Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles and allowing Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph to sign with new teams. In their place, the Steelers added former Denver Broncos signal-caller Russell Wilson and then sent a conditional sixth-round pick to the Chicago Bears for their former first-round pick, Justin Fields. Now, Pittsburgh has added a third quarterback.
On Monday, Steelers general manager Omar Khan told reporters that the team had agreed to terms with quarterback Kyle Allen, per ESPN. Allen spent the 2023 season with the Buffalo Bills, meaning Pittsburgh and Buffalo have now virtually switched backup quarterbacks, with Trubisky signing with the Bills and Allen agreeing to terms with Pittsburgh.
The Philadelphia Eagles traded for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett, clearly changing the trajectory of how the Steelers were operating at the quarterback position. But not just that, with the Eagles sniffing around Justin Fields, it opened the door for Pittsburgh to land Fields, too.
On Tuesday, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni discussed Pickett and what he would be asked to do with the team, which is purely a backup role.
“I’m really excited about the things he can do. I’m excited that we have a piece in place there. But his job is to be the backup, and his job is to support Jalen and help him in any way that he can and be ready to play if he needs to play,” Sirianni said.
The Steelers sought out and landed Russell Wilson, who Tomlin said was already sold on coming to take the job before he landed in Pittsburgh for a visit the Friday before the official start of free agency.
That seemed to eliminate the Steelers from the running for Fields until Pickett himself expressed his desire to move on from Pittsburgh.
“We had one quarterback on our roster,” Tomlin said. “We knew, obviously that we had to acquire some talent at the position. We just studied the field and levels of availability of some of the candidates in the field. We got zeroed in on Russell and Justin among them. Obviously, probably the goal was to get one guy initially.”
Tomlin didn’t give judgment on Pickett’s decision and said he wished him well moving forward. He indicated that the Steelers felt confident they’d be able to land Fields before they pulled the trigger on the trade that sent Pickett and two draft picks to Philadelphia for the No. 98th pick this year and two 2025 seventh-round picks.
Pickett revealed that he felt like he handled his departure from Pittsburgh the right way.
“I think the communication is what it is. It was behind closed doors. I’m confident with the way I handled it,” Pickett said.
Ultimately, Pickett feels like it was just time for a fresh start after playing seven years in the city of Pittsburgh, accounting for his Pitt tenure. He’ll now get the chance to play for the franchise that he grew up rooting for in Ocean Township, New Jersey.
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