Eagles QB Kenny Pickett Addresses Breakup with Steelers: 'It Was Time'

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Kenny Pickett met with the media on Monday after the first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers just two years ago traded him three days earlier

PHILADELPHIA – Kenny Pickett knows the deal in Philly. He's not here to be the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. That job belongs to Jalen Hurts, and he's cool with it.

He’s met backup Tanner McKee, the second-year quarterback from Stanford, and the coaches, including offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and quarterback coach Doug Nussmeier.

Pickett knows his role.

“Just help the team win any way I can,” he said during Monday’s press introductory press conference at the Eagles’ facility. “I talked to Jalen, and talked to Tanner in the room, they seem like great guys. 

"I got with coach Nussmeier and coach Moore (Monday), got a chance to meet them. I just want to be a great addition to the room and help the team win any way I can.”

Pickett's not in Pittsburgh anymore, and he's cool with that, too.

While he chose to keep some of the juicier details about the breakup behind closed doors, he said it was time to move on. He knew he wasn’t going to start in Pittsburgh, either, after the Steelers signed Russell Wilson to a one-year deal.

There are rumblings that the Steelers are trying to extend Wilson’s contract after one year, so there’s a good chance Pickett wouldn’t have started next year, either.

New Eagles backup QB Kenny Pickett / USA Today

“I’m confident the way I handled it,” he said. “I handled it the way I should’ve handled it. I’m excited to be here. It worked out so well that Philly is the place I ended up landing in. I think everything happens for a reason and I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”

He added, “I just thought it was time (to move on). I just felt it was time from the things that transpired. I wanted to get a chance to go somewhere else and continue to grow my career.

“The fact that it’s in Philly, the place I grew up and found my love for the game, with a great coaching staff, great players, I’m looking forward to meeting all these guys in a couple weeks when everyone gets back in town. I think it’s an awesome opportunity to join this team.”

Pickett said he has texted with Hurts but has yet to meet him.

“Seems like a great guy,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to working with him. I think he’s an unbelievable player. I think I can learn a lot of things from him on the field, off the field. Just getting to know him as a person. I’m excited to join the room.”

The Eagles' new QB likes the concepts the team uses with Hurts and feels they meet his skill set. He also likes what Moore showed when Moore was with the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Chargers as the offensive coordinator.

“Watching some of the Eagles’ stuff last year, some of the RPO stuff, they get Jalen on the move a lot,” he said. “I feel like I can do a lot of the same things.

“Then watching coach Moore’s stuff in L.A. and Dallas, and what he did with Dak (Prescott), and what he did with Justin (Herbert) in L.A.. Getting under center, being in the gun, I think I can do both of those things. I think I showed that in Pittsburgh.”

The interesting thing about Herbert is sources said general Manager Howie Roseman privately told people that Pickett reminded him of the Chargers' QB during the pre-draft process before the Steelers burned a first-round pick on Pickett.

Eagles Trade for Kenny Pickett Makes Sense for One Big Reason

Pickett, and maybe Sam Howell, too, drew Roseman to the University of Pittsburgh campus to watch a Thursday night game between the Panthers and the University of North Carolina in November of 2021.

Roseman took Pickett out to dinner after the QB completed 25 of 43 passes for 346 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception, in a 30-23 overtime win and became the school's all-time leader in passing yards ahead of Alex Van Peltn and Dan Marino.

“Talking with Howie, I think he said it was the first college game he was at in three years, that Thursday night game when we played North Carolina at Heinz Field,” said Pickett. 

“Great memory that I had at Pitt. It was really cool that he was in attendance at that game and made it a point to be there after not previously going to a lot of games. I knew that there was definitely interest from back in my Pitt days.”