That fresh breeze coming out of Pittsburgh right now is emanating from the Steelers’ facilities in the wake of trading away Kenny Pickett and Diontae Johnson this week.
The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly described the situation regarding Pickett and Johnson as the “malcontents have been replaced by people who want to be part of the team.”
Pickett was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday. ESPN’s Brooke Pryor noted the 2022 first-round pick “preferred to get a fresh start elsewhere” because internally the Steelers viewed Russell Wilson as the starter going into next season.
This comes after rumors circulated leading up to Pittsburgh’s Week 17 game against the Seattle Seahawks that Pickett refused to be the backup when Mason Rudolph was named the starter.
Pickett, who suffered a concussion in a Week 13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, denied the rumor and said he wasn’t medically cleared to play at the time.
After being cleared from concussion protocol, Pickett served as the No. 2 quarterback for their regular-season finale against the Baltimore Ravens.
Johnson and a 2024 seventh-round draft pick were traded to the Carolina Panthers for cornerback Donte Jackson and a 2024 sixth-round pick.
The veteran wideout had a series of incidents over the course of his five seasons in Pittsburgh, including multiple locker-room scuffles with teammates. He had a heated argument with Mitchell Trubisky early in the 2022 season.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Johnson and Minkah Fitzpatrick got into a “heated argument” that had to be broken up by Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt after Pittsburgh’s loss to the Cleveland Browns on Nov. 19.
The following week against the Cincinnati Bengals, Johnson appeared to give up on a play when the ball bounced right in front of him after a Jaylen Warren fumble. DJ Turner picked up the ball and returned it for a Bengals touchdown in a game Pittsburgh lost 16-10.
Kaboly noted the “in-house fighting and the me-first attitudes” were becoming more apparent to people within the Steelers organization, and “loud enough to at least get noticed” by people outside of the building.
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