Second-year Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett entered the 2023 season as the Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterback, but it sounds like he’s going to have to compete in order to earn that role again next season.
Though Kenny Pickett started the majority of the games for the team this season, he was replaced toward the end of the season by Mason Rudolph as Rudulph led the team to a playoff berth. As the Steelers head into the offseason, head coach Mike Tomlin made it clear that there will be an open competition for the role, saying “Obviously, there will be competition.”
“There’s always competition in this thing,” Tomlin said according to Pro Football Talk. “We don’t anoint anyone. Man, I’m appreciative of [Pickett’s] efforts and where he is and excited about continuing to work with him. But certainly, he will be challenged from a competition perspective moving forward. Competition brings the best out in all of us.”
Though Rudolph took control of the starting quarterback role toward the end of the season over Pickett, he is set to become an unrestricted free agent this spring, leaving his future with the team in a state of uncertainty.
But even if Rudolph is not with the team, it sounds like Tomlin intends to open up the competition for the team’s starting quarterback role.
