There are many articles published and Tweets posted this time of year that talk about things the Steelers should do that would make sense.

For example, “It makes sense for the Steelers to sign (insert player here).” I believe there are a zillion of those articles and Tweets produced every day, and that’s because there is always someone out there who could theoretically be an upgrade at a particular position.

I get why people do that. It fosters engagement with the fan base. We can have these discussions all year round, and the interest would never wane.

But let’s talk about what never, ever made sense: The idea of Kenny Pickett, the former Steelers quarterback, their first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, riding the bench in his third year. It was popular to try and rationalize that sentiment when news first leaked that the organization was seriously interested in Russell Wilson.

They say that actions speak louder than words, and that’s because they almost always do. It didn’t matter that head coach Mike Tomlin, general manager Omar Khan and owner Art Rooney II had given Pickett their public vote of confidence at various points leading up to the free-agent frenzy, once that frenzy was kicked off by the signing of Wilson, the brain trust was through with Pickett.

I said this at the time, and I received pushback in some circles, but the idea of Wilson and Pickett competing for a job simply never made sense.

If the Steelers truly believed in Pickett, they would never have gone after Wilson.

For one thing, a quarterback of that stature would never go anywhere to compete for a starting job, nor would he be very happy losing that competition to a quarterback of Pickett’s accomplishments. Heck, he’d probably be insulted by the mere thought of having to go up against a guy like that just to win a starting job. Brett Favre would have never done that. Ben Roethlisberger would have never done that. Tom Brady would have never done that. Aaron Rodgers will never do that. Now, if the Steelers had pursued Ryan Tannehill, Jacoby Brissett or Tyrod Taylor, I would have accepted the notion that Pittsburgh still believed in Pickett. It would have created a “competition,”  and not a competition. Pickett may not have felt threatened by that player after winning or even “winning” the starting job in training camp, and the fans and his teammates may have been less inclined to clamor for his benching after the first bad interception or game.

Second of all, why would you make your third-year quarterback ride the bench knowing you’d have to decide on his fifth-year option next spring? The Steelers would have been crazy to pick up Pickett’s fifth-year option after a season where he didn’t play or barely played. What would they have done going into Year 4? Would they have re-signed Wilson? Would they have signed someone else to come in and compete with Pickett? Were they simply going to hope and pray that Pickett figured things out after a season of sitting and learning?

Third of all, why would Pickett’s veteran teammates–including Cam Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick and T.J. Watt–actively recruit Wilson if they still believed in Pickett? Those guys aren’t stupid. They had to know how that would be perceived, by both the public and, more importantly, Pickett. You don’t go out of your way to make things more difficult for a young quarterback you want to ride with.

Again, the whole thing just didn’t make any sense.

I don’t know why the Steelers decided to move on from Pickett. Maybe it really was his attitude. It sure did seem like things went south for him at the end of the 2023 campaign when the rumors began to circulate that he refused to be the backup behind Mason Rudolph in the penultimate game of the season. However, even if Pickett was the consummate professional throughout the whole ordeal, the courting and then signing of Wilson signified the end of the road for the pride of the University of Pittsburgh. Yes, Pickett reportedly requested a trade, which was granted when he was shipped off to Philadelphia on March 15, but if you’re the Steelers, why would you give up so easily on a player whose talents you still strongly believed in? Forget that “volunteers and not hostages” nonsense. That doesn’t apply to a young quarterback you think has the potential to be great. No, you tell that guy you’re going to keep him captive until he gets his head out of his butt and starts to perform like the franchise passer you thought he was when you drafted him in the first round.

Do you know what else didn’t make a ton of sense? The fact that the Steelers acquired quarterback Justin Fields in a trade with the Bears one day after trading Pickett to the Eagles. To the Steelers’ credit, they immediately made it clear that Wilson would be the starter in 2024. Good call. You let both Wilson and Fields know where they stood right from the beginning.

Fine, but the part about the Steelers wanting to extend Wilson beyond this season? That just doesn’t add up. The Steelers have to decide on Fields’s fifth-year option in the not-so-distant future. They’re probably not going to pick it up, but Tomlin loves Fields, and I believe the Steelers have plans for him that go beyond this season.

Again, actions speak louder than words, and if something doesn’t make sense, there’s usually a reason for it.