The Philadelphia EaglesThe newest quarterback for the Eagles is probably very happy to be a member of the team.
Just hours after it was reported that the Eagles had acquired Kenny Pickett from the Pittsburgh Steelers, the 25-year-old quarterback responded to the news with a post on Instagram. The post had Pickett — who grew up an Eagles fan in nearby New Jersey — sharing a picture of himself as a kid with a Donovan McNabb jersey on Christmas.
Why Kenny Pickett Never Succeeded as Steelers QB
The trade means the Eagles will get an experienced backup to replace Marcus Mariota, who left in free agency for the Washington Commanders. Pickett had been the starting quarterback for the Steelers over the past two seasons after he was picked in the first round from the University of Pittsburgh.
The pick seemed to be a perfect match considering Pickett had practiced at the same facility as the Steelers during his college days with the University of Pittsburgh. However, he never succeeded as the starter, posting some of the lowest production numbers of any starting quarterback in the NFL.
While Pickett took great care of the football — his interception rate of 1.2% actually ranked second in the NFL last season and is the 29th-best single season rate in history — his game-managing nature was so extreme that it was to the detriment of the offense.
Pickett produced just 13 touchdowns against 13 interceptions in his 25 appearances and 24 starts with the Steelers. As Kate Magdziuk of SB Nation’s Behind the Steel Curtain wrote back in November, Pickett’s production is historically bad. Since the NFL merger in 1970, Pickett’s touchdown rate (1.8%) is the worst among all quarterbacks with at least 22 starts.
Further complicating matters if that the Pickett-led Steelers offense paled in comparison to the Mason Rudolph-led unit when the latter started the last three games of the season. Despite being a career backup who was once benched for an undrafted free agent named Devlin Hodges, Rudolph actually gave a spark to Pittsburgh’s offense and led them to a 3-0 record and a playoff berth.
Under Rudolph’s lead, the Steelers averaged 27 points and 384.7 total yards per game. Under Pickett’s lead, they averaged 16 points and 294.9 total yards per game.
With that being said, a change of scenery may have been the best thing for both sides. Pittsburgh acquired Russell Wilson to compete for the starting quarterback job with Pickett, which eventually led to the trade to the Eagles.
Eagles Also Showed Interest in Bears QB Justin Fields
Perhaps just as interesting is that Philadelphia actually attempted to make a trade for another quarterback — the Chicago Bears’ Justin Fields — before trading for Pickett. However, they couldn’t agree on a price for the dual-threat quarterback, according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
Via Bleacher Report’s Erin Walsh:
“The Eagles, from what I understand talking to sources around the league, were one of the teams that had talked to the Bears about Justin Fields, but obviously could not get to the point where they agreed on a price, so they traded for Pickett,” Graziano said.
While Pickett will act as the second-string quarterback behind Jalen Hurts, he will have an opportunity to reshape his professional journey in Philadelphia. If Hurts were to be absent for any period, Pickett would step in as the replacement and potentially increase his worth with a solid performance or two for the Eagles.
