Pittsburg, PA
Tim Benz: Kenny Pickett's strengths became his biggest weakness by the end in Pittsburgh
During his first media availability with the Philadelphia Eagles, former Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett acknowledged that he wanted to leave Pittsburgh in advance of Friday’s trade that sent him across the state.
He also did little to tamp down a narrative that he pouted his way through much of the last four months, including a refusal to dress for the Week 17 game in Seattle when it became clear he wouldn’t start.
When asked about that storyline surrounding the Seahawks game by the Philadelphia media Monday, Pickett said, “That goes back to a lot of the communication behind closed doors that didn’t go the way that I feel like they went in how it’s getting released. There was a plan there for that game. It went down exactly the way it was planned to go down that entire week.”
Former #Steelers QB Kenny Pickett on reports of him refusing to dress vs. Seattle in Week 17 pic.twitter.com/ERPN5yrD27
— Rob Gregson (@NFL_Rob) March 18, 2024
That was quite a non-answer answer. In that situation, any answer besides, “It’s not true, I never refused to dress,” is going to leave people continuing to assume you refused to dress.
In terms of the reported trade request, once the Steelers signed Russell Wilson, Pickett said, “It just felt like it was time from the things that transpired and (I) wanted to get a chance to go somewhere else to continue to grow my career.
“It was behind closed doors. I’m confident in the way that I handled it. I handled it the way I should’ve handled it. I’m excited to be here. It worked out so well that Philly was the place I ended up landing in, so I think everything happens for a reason and I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”
Kenny Pickett says he felt it was time to move on from Pittsburgh and go somewhere he could grow his career #Eagles pic.twitter.com/YCYO3Z0FEY
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) March 18, 2024
Kenny Pickett on the reports over the last few days that he handled the Russell Wilson signing poorly
Says he feels he handled everything the right way: #Eagles pic.twitter.com/Rk3BRnYK92
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) March 18, 2024
When Pickett says, “It was time,” how much time did he really give it? He was given the starter’s job four weeks into his first regular season. The team benched twice and eventually cut the starter (Mitch Trubisky), who had the job before him. Then they let the guy who took it from Pickett (Mason Rudolph) walk out the door to Tennessee even though he was excellent in winning the last three games of the regular season to guide the team to the playoffs.
Pickett didn’t even take one snap under new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, and he wasn’t willing to endure one training camp battle from Wilson for his starting job.
Did anyone along the way tell Pickett the history of quarterbacks being challenged for their starting job in Pittsburgh? Kordell Stewart was challenged by the likes of Kent Graham and Mike Tomczak and got it back, eventually leading the team to the 2001 AFC Championship game. At least Wilson has a Hall of Fame track record and (hopefully) something left in the tank.
Four years into his career, future Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw started what would become a Super Bowl season on the bench behind Joe Gilliam.
Terry Hanratty yielded the starter’s job to Bradshaw in 1971 and stayed with the team all the way through 1976 and won two Super Bowl rings as a result.
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Sometimes, the road gets tough. Now, through this trade, it may have gotten tougher. Sure, Pickett got his wish to leave Pittsburgh. He’s even going to the Eagles, the team he grew up rooting for as a child.
But in terms of playing time, there is much less of a chance of Pickett wedging his way past Jalen Hurts than there would’ve been here replacing Wilson.
To borrow a favorite cliche of Mike Tomlin’s, that’s a far cry from “smiling in the face of adversity.” That’s just sending a frowny face emoji in a text.
When Pickett was drafted by the Steelers in 2022, even proponents of the pick understood that he may have had some limitations.
He didn’t have a cannon, but his arm was strong enough. He wasn’t a dynamic scrambler, but he certainly moved well enough. He wasn’t as tall as Big Ben, but he was big enough. His hands weren’t large, but, gosh darn it, those thumb stretching exercises were getting the job done well enough.
Basically, physically, Pickett was enough… enough. Theoretically, what was supposed to make him worthy of a first-round pick was everything else.
His smarts. His maturity. His poise. His leadership. His toughness. His command and knowledge of the game. All the things he exhibitted on a daily basis at the University of Pittsburgh and through his first year and half with the Steelers.
All those intangibles were going to heighten the average tangibles he had to the point that he was a championship-contending NFL quarterback.
Unfortunately by the end of his brief Steelers career, Pickett’s good physical gifts weren’t close to being good enough. And all those seemingly wonderful off-the-field traits ended up being detractors instead of multipliers.
Someone with so much alleged poise wouldn’t have reacted so negatively, so quickly to Rudolph staying under center late last year, and Wilson getting signed this offseason.
Maybe those positive qualities will manifest once more in Philadelphia if called upon should Hurts falter or get injured. If not, though, if Pickett thought he had had it tough in Pittsburgh, I wonder how he’ll handle criticism in a town that basks in its own reputation for dishing it out.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
The Detroit Lions (8-6) and Pittsburgh Steelers (7-6) will square off in a Week 16 interdivisional battle between two teams with NFL playoff aspirations. While we know the outcome of the Lions’ Week 15 game, the Steelers have yet to play—they take on the Miami Dolphins on “Monday Night Football”—but that won’t prevent the sports betting sites from taking a look ahead to Week 16.
The Steelers currently sit atop the AFC North, but that is more an indictment of how much of a mess the division has been in 2025, rather than praise for Pittsburgh. After starting the season with a 3-1 record, they’ve gone 4-5 since and have not recorded back-to-back wins—something they’ll be hoping to accomplish on Monday night.
While the Steelers are in a prime position to make the playoffs and potentially host a playoff game, Pittsburgh fans and analysts are frustrated with the team’s performance and have spent most of the season hoping for change.
Steelers fans have squarely pointed their fingers at the Pittsburgh coaching staff as the root of the team’s problems, blaming coach Mike Tomlin for his decisions in staffing, offseason player acquisition, and lack of change/adaptability in their scheme. While Steelers fans have started “Fire Tomlin” chants during games, no coach has come under more fire than defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.
“The defensive scheme is ass. The DC needs to get the (expletive) up out of there. Teryl Austin. He was the DB coach when I was there. I didn’t think he was that great then, you know what I’m saying? Now he’s the DC. It’s an opportunistic defense. … They’ve been running the same (expletive) every year with no adjustment.”
On offense, despite the addition of quarterback Aaron Rodgers, they’ve struggled to stay on the field and create consistent drives. While his passer rating of 96.2 is decent, the rest of his statistics are mediocre, as he has become more of a checkdown artist in his later years. Rodgers has thrown the ball beyond 10 yards on only 22.7% of his passing attempts, is averaging 5.8 air yards per attempt, and just 3.3 air yards per completion; all three stats are the lowest in the NFL. He’s coming off a 284-yard passing performance against the Ravens (his highest total on the season), but it’s also the first time in a month he’s thrown for more than 161 yards in a game.
Despite the inconsistency and underachieving play, the Steelers remain in contention for the postseason, making them a dangerous opponent for a Lions team that likely needs to win their remaining three games.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are one of the teams expressing interest in Chicago White Sox outfielder Luis Robert Jr., according to Francys Romero on Twitter/X. Romero notes that the New York Mets and San Diego Padres are also interested.
After being named an American League All-Star for the first time in 2023, Robert had his second straight subpar season for the White Sox in 2025. The 28-year-old slashed just .223/.297/.364 with 12 doubles, 14 home runs and 53 RBI in 100 games. He did, however, finished fifth in the American League with 33 stolen bases and was in the 93rd-percentile with seven outs above average in center field.
Though he’s struggled at the plate over the last two seasons, Robert looked to be emerging as one of the game’s top young players after a breakout campaign in 2023. Robert has battled injuries in his career but played in a career-high 145 games that season. He finished 12th in the American League MVP race and won a Silver Slugger after batting .264 with an .857 OPS, 36 doubles, one triple, 38 home runs, 80 RBI and 20 stolen bases.
Strikeouts have been an issue for Robert and are a big reason for his struggles in recent seasons. Over the past two years, he’s struck out in nearly 30% of his plate appearances. Even in his breakout season in 2023, he struck out 172 times in 595 plate appearances.
Robert is owed $20 million this coming seasons and has a club option valued at $20 million again for 2027 with a $2 million buyout.
The Pirates have been looking to make lineup upgrades all offseason. They’ve been aggressive on the free agent market — including empty pursuits of Kyle Schwarber and Jorge Polanco — but have yet to add a bat via free agency. The only free agent agreement the Pirates have made so far is with left-handed reliever Gregory Soto for one year and $7.75 million.
As for the offense, the Pirates acquired Jhostynxon García from the Boston Red Sox but have come up short in adding established help to their lowly offense.
Given that the Pirates have already been outbid on multiple players this offseason, general manager Ben Cherington could choose to focus his attention on the trade market to land an impact bat.
In addition to Robert, the St. Louis Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan and the New York Mets’ Jeff McNeil are among the players the Pirates have reportedly expressed interest in.
More about: Pirates
Pittsburg, PA
Pittsburgh braces for heavy snowfall and frigid temperatures | Live First Alert Weather
A Winter Storm Warning goes into effect at 1 p.m. for counties south of Allegheny County, and a Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for Allegheny County and others to the north.
National Weather Service issues Winter Storm Warning
Earlier this week, the National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning for parts of the Pittsburgh area along and south of I-70 for today and Sunday due to what they described as “a band of heavier snow.”
As of Friday evening, nearly all of the Pittsburgh area is expected to see between two and four inches of snow.
In Pittsburgh, the estimate is 3-5 inches and 5-10 for the ridges.
Snow will be coupled with frigid temperatures
As the snow tapers off around midnight Sunday morning, it will remain scattered, but cold air will follow, leaving the low temperatures in the single digits, and the wind chill below zero as gusts could reach up to 15-20mph.
Road crews prepare for winter storm
Crews across western Pennsylvania say that they’re prepared for the impending snowfall.
In Allegheny County, there are two dozen trucks and more than 9,000 tons of salt at the ready.
Even with the preparations, they’re asking those who don’t need to go out to stay off the roads in order to give them the space to clear them.
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