:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/grupoclarin/2D3TT4O4QRBUZEJEIK6ASRIIFY.jpg "Steelers trade Kenny Pickett to Eagles after Russell Wilson arrives")
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kenny Pickett’s brief, tumultuous era in Pittsburgh is over.
The Steelers are trading the quarterback to the Philadelphia Eagles, multiple sources told The Associated Press. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal is not yet official.
Pittsburgh will receive one third-round pick in this year’s draft and two seventh-rounders in 2025 in exchange for Pickett and this year’s Steelers’ fourth-rounder.
The trade comes just hours after the Steelers signed nine-time Pro Bowler Russell Wilson to a one-year contract to compete with Pickett for the starting job, although all indications were that Wilson would have an advantage by the time the team reports to training camp in Saint Vincent College in July.
Wilson declined to say he expected to be the starter when asked about it at his introductory news conference Friday, adding that he and Pickett had communicated shortly after he had agreed to terms for coming to Pittsburgh, and said they both They agreed to focus on making the Steelers better.
Instead, Wilson is now the only quarterback on the team’s roster after Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph, who led the team to the playoffs after Pickett underwent ankle surgery in early December, were released. , who signed with Tennessee.
Pickett, a first-round pick out of the University of Pittsburgh in 2022, went 14-10 as a starter and struggled to stay healthy and be a difference-maker in an offense that ranked near the bottom of the league. .