Pickett Steelers divorce
- Thread starter HopeandChangeforAntoons
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I have no idea if Tomlin lied, and only he and Kenny would know that. However, I don't doubt for a second that Wilson was promised the starting job. In fact, there's likely zero chance he comes here without that guarantee.
Kenny's side of the story was going to get out eventually, and it seems it just did. Believe what you want, but the vile thrown his way from the local media was orchestrated, and totally unnecessary.
Known source vs. unknown sources. Take your pick.
He wouldn't be the first to have a "mis-communication" with the beloved Coach T. Ask Ingram, Blount or Deebo about their conversations with the team.
I’m happy to see KP escape the negativity of Pittsburgh. So after the season the Steelers cut their center who was frequently pushed back into “the pocket,” but it was KP’s fault for having happy feet. Not to mention the shaky left-tackle who will soon be replaced by a 1st round pick.
I think the Steelers are desperate to try to get Cam Hayward (and Watt) a run in the playoffs - and couldn’t wait another year with KP.
I’m happy that KP finally has an offensive coach…
Go Pitt.
I think the Steelers are desperate to try to get Cam Hayward (and Watt) a run in the playoffs - and couldn’t wait another year with KP.
I’m happy that KP finally has an offensive coach…
Go Pitt.
It doesn't seem to matter to you that the Steelers also apparently lied to Rudolph.
No matter what actually happened--and I don't take any of these unattributed accounts published on twitter etc. as fact--this whole situation was poorly handled by the Stillers. Very poorly handled. On that, there can really be no disagreement.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Wilson wasn't allowing a trade anywhere he'd be a backup. He could sit on his hands in Denver and be a backup. The moment the Steelers did the deal, it was written in stone.
Not lost in the KP portion of the story but Rudolph was abused by the organization and coaching staff for his entire steeler career.
I can’t wait until this all blows over and we can reminisce about the good memories Kenny had in Pittsburgh. The Steelers did what they thought was in their best interest at QB, Pickett did what he thought was in his best interest. I fault neither party.
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Might want to check your facts about Blount. Guy thought he should have more carries while Bell was having a 1st team All-Pro season. He left the field early in his last game, then left the locker room, got cut, then got called out by a bunch of teammates. Surely he had terrible things to say about Coach T after the whole ordeal went down?
Blount said:
As for Ingraham, he joined the Steelers with a 1 year $4-million deal as a backup LB, which he acknowledged when he signed. Then he played in 80% of the defensive snaps over the first 3 games but saw declining snaps over the next few weeks when TJ and Highsmith got healthier, then demanded a trade because he thought he should be the starter and was playing in a contract year. Who was disingenuous on this one?
Harrison was a 39-year old that thought he should be playing every down, asked for his release and got it, then signed with New England to chase a ring while playing 5 snaps per game with them.
Wilson wasn't traded, he was cut. He was free to join whichever team he wanted. Both the organization and Wilson have said that there was going to be a QB competition. The only person saying differently was the first QB to leave his team before a New Years Six bowl game.
I'm not checking my facts on any of them - if they understood their roles to that degree - then why did they want out?
That’s the thing… this isn’t just a Kenny story… it’s a Steelers story that affected Pickett and Rudolph and it’s not really difficult to believe…not at all.
In fact I’m order to believe the original cover story you have to go into conspiracy theories that include Pickett suddenly acting nothing like he’s ever done in 7 years and the Giants also being in on the whole thing as well….since they we’re rebuffed by Wilson. And the Giants need to protect Kenny or Rudolph would be …what? Nope.
That’s conspiracy theory….I’m not buying that…
In fact I’m order to believe the original cover story you have to go into conspiracy theories that include Pickett suddenly acting nothing like he’s ever done in 7 years and the Giants also being in on the whole thing as well….since they we’re rebuffed by Wilson. And the Giants need to protect Kenny or Rudolph would be …what? Nope.
That’s conspiracy theory….I’m not buying that…
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I think Kenny made a mistake. Even Bradshaw got benched, but then played himself back to be the guy for four Super Bowl Champions. Wilson isn't that good any more and is at the end of his career. Now Kenny is stuck behind Hurts, which is much worse for him than Wilson.
As soon as he signed here it was evident. You'd have to have your head buried underground to think otherwise.
Dude's rep is he's a prima donna. He doesn't need to work for a $1m a year, especially to sit around as a backup. The only reason to continue working was to try and have a bounce back year and revive his career. Can't do that on the bench.
Maybe he doesn’t want to work for people who lied to him. He can go make the same money, closer to his home with a team that hasn’t lied to him… yet.
But you are free to do as you please. Just that not so many people can proclaim with such confidence your mistakes.
I’m in the camp of those who believe the Steelers use Dulac and one or two others to deliver the message as they want it told.
Steelers state media!
It is possible that Tomlin never lied to Pickett. This are two plausible sequences that jive with Pickett's version and make Tomlin not a liar:
1a. The week before Wilson signed, Tomlin told Pickett there would be competition and Pickett would have to win the job. Pickett accepted that.
1b. Around the same time, the Steelers had an offer to Mason. It is possible that Pickett understood the competition to be Mason. In any event, that is not outcome determinative for the rest of this exercise.
2. On or around Friday before Wilson signed, Wilson visits the Steelers. He says he has an offer from the NYG and intends to take additional visits. It becomes apparent that Wilson will not sign without an outright guarantee that he gets the job. Tomlin accepts this. They reach a handshake agreement on this material fact.
3. Weekend: Steelers withdraw Mason's offer. Mason alerts Pickett.
4. Later weekend: Pickett calls Tomlin. Tomlin ignores Pickett.
5. Monday: Wilson signs. Tomlin calls Pickett and says either a) Wilson is your competition, not Mason; b) Wilson is your "competition" and it's not a real competition; or c) Wilson is QB1 guaranteed.
The only possible lie would be 5a IF Tomlin also promised Wilson the job and lied to Pickett about it. I personally believe that Tomlin told Pickett something to the effect of "it's Wilson's job to lose" i.e., 5b or 5c.
Then the vaunted player's coach comes out clean. He never lied to Pickett. Circumstances changed. He preferred Wilson to Pickett. Fine, whatever. But no need to sic the Steelers media dogs on Pickett and slander him because he asked out after an opportunity to win the job was pulled from out under him.
I'm glad that Pickett is gone. The Steelers are a clown show, their fans are toxic know-nothing sycophantic drunks and the local media is worse. They had no plan for him when they drafted him. They failed to create a modern NFL offense for years, including a year that pre-dated Pickett entirely. They failed to hire the right coordinators. They failed to play their best players. Blame Pickett for not living up to billing but you better damn well also blame Tomlin for massively capping the team's ceiling through his ill-considered leadership decisions.
What's your explanation for why Wilson signed with the Steelers for the absolute bare minimum while having a competing offer from the NYG.
He certainly didn't get more money here. He certainly didn't get a better place to live for his very famous wife. So what did Pittsburgh offer him that the Giant's couldn't?
Occam's Razor wins again.
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Hurts misses time every year. The Eagles have a tremendous OL, great weapons, and, best of all, a modern offensive scheme. They are also historically known for trading backup QBs into starting roles (AJ Feely, McNabb, Kolb, Foles, Bradford, Wentz). Kenny will get another shot somewhere, and in the meantime, he's away from the trolls and yes-men who "bleed" Black and Gold but don't have the 85IQ points required to understand why the team has come up short for 15 years.
Wilson would've signed for the bare minimum no matter where he went since the Broncos are picking up the remainder of his guaranteed salary for this year. Had the Giants offered him double, he would still receive the same total amount, but the Giants would be picking up more of the tab. So there were no competing salary offers.
Nope...not competing salaries - just a guaranteed starting job. Something the Giants didn't offer.
Unless someone was going to offer him a $40+ million contract, he'd still be getting paid the same amount in 2024. Anything between Vet. minimum and the $39 million Denver owed would just reduce the share that Denver was paying.
WIlson's interviews before talking to any team stressed his biggest desire was to play for a potential contender.
-NYG
won 6 games
30th ranked offense in the NFL in 2023
no 1,000 yard receiver on the roster
lost their star running back
NFL leading 5.0 sacks allowed per game (32% higher than the 2nd worst team)
26th ranked scoring defense
6th pick in the draft, high enough to get a top QB prospect if desired.
- The Steelers
Playoff team
28th ranked offense but a new OC
George Pickens
returning arguably the best RB duo in the league
2.1 sacks per game (8th best in NFL)
#6 scoring defense
Known beatable competition at QB and draft slot too low to get a top candidate.
Sure looks like the Steelers had something to offer over the Giants.
That certainly may be true. I personally don't trust some random guy on Twitter with seemingly no connections to the organization. I'm also not sold on the local media. I do believe that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. And that's not even to say anyone is lying. Both sides probably took away from the conversation what they wanted to so both sides are being truthful in their own minds.
He got paid a lot of money to hold a clipboard
Please abuse me like that !
A 6-win season could be exactly what this team needs to get a new head coach and quarterback. Pickett having a Kirk Cousins level of play was exactly what I said developing into a QB who can lead a team deep into the playoffs.
Maybe I'm not understanding what happened from Kenny's point of view. Could you elaborate on this?
If everything written in these posts doesn’t explain it for you, it probably isn’t worth explaining further to you.
I've posted before....I really think Tomlin is on the hotseat. I think he is under big pressure to win a playoff game and win it this season. For whatever reason, he doesn't think Pickett will do it this year and thought an experienced vet like Wilson was the better choice. So yeah, Tomlin accepted those terms and told him he is the starter since Tomlin's butt is on the line this season.
I can almost accept this, but the smear campaign that was fed to the stooge media (thanks MM for that term) was ate up like turkey at thanksgiving dinner really turns me off to the Steelers now.
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Not wishing injury on Hurts, but I would love for Kenny and the Eagles to whip the Steelers next season.
You're making my point for me.
If all 2023 deals were equal (you're assuming they were all 1 year deals but they may not have been, a 2 year deal with any guaranteed money was better for him), then he signed for reasons other than money. It wasn't quality of life, NYC pretty clearly beats Pittsburgh. The Giants are also a historic franchise with multiple Super Bowls. So why is he in Pittsburgh if it's none of these reasons? What else is left besides playing time?
That is only true of his pay in 2023. So you're assuming that all deals were 1 year. Any future money - 2024 or beyond - is more than he would make in Pittsburgh. If the NYG offered him a single dollar of guaranteed money in 2024 then that's a better deal than he got in Pittsburgh.
The fact is that he didn't get a 2 year deal anywhere. But he needs to play in order to get paid in 2024. So he picked the place the promised to play him.
And you're cherry picking on 2023. The Giants sucked because their QB was hurt and played 5 games (3 against playoff teams, 1 against a SB team). They're a flawed roster but they actually won a playoff game in 2022, something Tomlin has been unable to do since Obama was President. Vegas also has their O/U as 1 game worse than Pittsburgh. I don't think they're materially worse than the Steelers.
I'm just glad the Pickett saga is over. He wasn't any good. Could he have been better in different circumstances? I'm sure he, like thousands of others, could have been. But he still wasn't going to be anything close to a special QB. I'd rather be in our situation than the one the Giants are in with Daniel Jones. Maybe the Steelers lied to him; maybe he was being a lousy team guy. Doesn't matter. The goal in pro sports is to win championships. You weren't going to do that with him. To already be back at the drawing board after only two seasons is a good thing. It seldom works out well for the teams that drag these situations with mediocre quarterbacks out. Evidently, some of you wanted to play that game for, what - a decade? No thanks.
I'm not arguing any of your points other than to point out he was going to sign for the league minimum for 1 year no matter where he signed. That is just the reality of the situation. To make up other scenarios where a team would alleviate the Broncos $39 million responsibility and take an unnecessary cap hit is in no way whatsoever based in reality.
The Eagles have a tremendous OL, great weapons, and, best of all, a modern offensive scheme.
So when KP does get a chance to start for them, no more Lair excuses for him if he flounders, right?
If that does happen, I'm sure we'll see a whole bunch anyway.
After you totally butchered the 20th pick in the draft QB should get you fired!! Nothing good about going back to the drawing board in two years. Secondly, you're okay with being in the Steelers position than the Giants is like saying you like fried bologna better than fried Spam.
Pickett is a helluva long way from being "Kirk Cousins level", by any way you want to use to measure it.
He's probably not very good. I am just saying that we were stupid to draft him and then deploy him: 1) without any starter reps in 2022; and 2) the literal worst offensive scheme in modern NFL history for 2 years. As I have said many times, every single QB, including Mahomes, would have been a worse version of their baseline in those circumstances. Every single QB that the Steelers played with and without Canada (Ben, Kenny, Mason) was significantly better without Canada. So Kenny was both stunted and incorrectly used.
It's pretty clear that the Steelers are unable to develop young QBs and Tomlin specifically is both unable to hire good coordinators or to figure out who his best QB is.
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