After Pittsburgh’s season ended with a loss to Buffalo in the wild card round, head coach Mike Tomlin said that the Steelers intended to bring in competition for Kenny Pickett at quarterback.
Mason Rudolph, who is a pending unrestricted free agent, could be one such option if he elects to re-sign with Pittsburgh.
But on Thursday, Steelers General Manager Omar Khan said he’s planning to turn over every proverbial stone to improve the team’s quarterbacks room.
“There’s different avenues for us — draft, free agency, the trade market. I would say every one of those avenues is an option for us,” Khan said, via Mike DeFabo of TheAthletic.com. “We’re looking at everything. I have an obligation to this organization, to the players, to the front office, to every member of Steelers nation, to look at every option, every way of trying to improve this team. And we’re going to do so.”
Still, Khan said some positive things about Pickett and his chances of remaining Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback entering 2024.
“I have full faith in Kenny,” Khan said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN. “He’s shown us some good things and there were some issues with the offense. I’m excited about the impact that [new offensive coordinator] Arthur Smith is going to have on him.
“Arthur’s very optimistic about Kenny and I know they’ve communicated. Like I said, we’ll have strong strong competition there and we’ll see how it goes.”
Pickett has compiled a 7-5 record as a starter in each of his first two seasons. He suffered an ankle injury in 2023 that kept him out for several weeks. But then the Steelers elected to ride the hot hand and play Mason Rudolph in the postseason against the Bills.
In 25 games, Pickett has completed 63 percent of his passes for 4,474 yards with 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Whether it’s just Rudolph or another veteran, it stands to reason that Pickett will have some sort of competition entering trading camp this summer.
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/omar-khan-says-full-faith-212439313.html
Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-02-29 21:24:39
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