According to Insider, shortly before signing Russell Wilson, the Steelers promised to support Kenny Pickett “better than we have since you've been here.”

Kenny Pickett started the first five games of the 2024 season in Russell Wilson's place in a Steelers alternate timeline. In the actual timeline, Pickett is still a backup, just facing Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia instead of Wilson in Pittsburgh. And Aditi Kinkhabwala continues to insist he is now an Eagle because the Steelers broke their promise. She mentioned it in passing on 93.7 The Fan yesterday when discussing the situation with Russell Wilson.

“Justin Fields played well, but he didn’t set the world on fire. “I think it’s very fair that Mike Tomlin wants to see what he has in Russell Wilson,” she said. “Whatever the reason, there is a reason he promised him the starting spot when, quite frankly, Kenny Pickett was still in his squad and he had said to Kenny Pickett two weeks earlier: 'We will do anything do to better support you.' than we have since you've been here'”.

The Steelers selected Kenny Pickett 20th overall in the 2022 NFL Draft with the intent that he would be their new franchise quarterback. Less than two years later, they traded him in a pick swap shortly after signing Russell Wilson. And then they switched to Fields, who benefited from Wilson's injury, rather than Pickett.

Pickett posted a 7-4 record in the 11 games he started and finished last season before injuring his ankle. After recovering, the Steelers decided to move on with Mason Rudolph, and Tomlin said after the season that Pickett would face competition for his starting job.

He probably thought they would re-sign Rudolph and that would be his competition. Instead, they sought out Russell Wilson after the Denver Broncos released him, a variable they couldn't account for. But Kinkhabwala claims the Steelers promised Pickett something right before all of this. One wonders what the last five games would have looked like if he had still been in the squad. But either way, the conversation now is between Wilson and Fields.

Tomlin said Russell Wilson was in “pole position” throughout the offseason. Then he basically had a good run in the preseason after missing most of training camp. Even now, he's still QB1 on the depth chart, and many are wondering if he won't be on the field for the next two weeks. Yesterday he took part in full training again, an important step in that direction.

A few weeks ago, Tomlin said he hadn't updated the depth chart to reflect Fields as the starter simply because he didn't need to. Others thought it was a strategy. If he were to make a “change” now, he wouldn’t demote Fields. He would simply play his healthy starter.

The starter who was supposed to be the starter all along, from the moment the Steelers started talking to him. At least that's what most people believe. Other reporters claim the Steelers never made any promises to Kenny Pickett. Probably it all depends on which source said what on which day.

But it hardly matters at this point, as we find ourselves on the cusp of the Fields and Wilson debate. So why are we still talking about Kenny Pickett? Well, because people keep reading about it, apparently even those who don't want to. So if you're looking for someone to blame for this article, look in the mirror.