Kenny Pickett: Change is a great thing

Going from being drafted in the first round to being traded before the start of your third season isn’t an ideal career trajectory, but it is the one that quarterback Kenny Pickett has experienced.

Pickett was a Steelers first-round pick in 2022 and his time with the team came to an end after 24 starts. Pickett finished up last season on the bench and was traded to the Eagles this offseason as the Steelers pivoted to Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, which would have been painful enough on its own.

The move appeared to be even harder because Pickett will have no shot of starting with the Eagles as they still have Jalen Hurts, but Pickett put a more positive spin on the move during a speech in New Jersey this week. Pickett said “the world has enough doubters” and that avoiding that attitude for yourself is essential to success, which he illustrated by reflecting on his move away from where he went to college and began his professional career.

“Change is a great thing,” Pickett said, via Ben Istvan of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I’m going through it right now. I was in Pittsburgh for seven years and now I’m over in Philadelphia. . . . I think a lot of people probably have some negative views on change, but that’s really just your outlook on it. I think if you keep a positive mindset, it’ll all work out for the better.”

It remains to be seen how good the change will actually be for him, but things went south so quickly with the Steelers that it’s not hard to understand why Pickett is embracing a fresh start across the state.