Getty The Eagles acquiring QB Kenny Pickett from the Steelers.
The Philadelphia Eagles‘ newest quarterback is probably a little more than happy to be a member of gang green.
Just hours after it was reported that the Eagles had acquired Kenny Pickett from the Pittsburgh Steelers, the 25-year-old quarterback reacted to the news with a post on Instagram. The post had Pickett — who grew up an Eagles fan in nearby New Jersey — posting a picture of himself as a kid with a Donovan McNabb jersey on Christmas.
Kenny Pickett just posted a throwback photo of him unwrapping a Donovan McNabb Jersey on Christmas as a kid. 🦅💚
(via his IG)
Why Kenny Pickett Never Panned Out as Steelers QB
The trade means the Eagles will acquire an experienced backup to replace Marcus Mariota, who departed in free agency for the Washington Commanders. Pickett had served as the Steelers’ starting quarterback over the past two seasons after he was selected in the first round out of the University of Pittsburgh.
The pick seemed to be a match made in heaven considering Pickett had practiced at the same facility as the Steelers during his college days with the University of Pittsburgh. However, he never panned out as the starter, posting some of the lowest production numbers of any starting quarterback in the NFL.
While Pickett showed 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 be the backup to Jalen Hurts, he will have a chance to re-write his career in Philadelphia. If Hurts were to miss any time, Pickett would be the next man up and he could obviously bring his market value up with an efficient start or two with the Eagles.