Former Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert says the team took a swing on Kenny Pickett with the right expectation after evaluating the Pitt quarterback as a potential start-and-win option. Colbert’s defense comes after Pickett’s era with Pittsburgh ended qu
For a franchise that spent decades searching for its next franchise quarterback, the Steelers’ decisions around Kenny Pickett still sting—especially when you look at the two quarterbacks they passed over in the same stretch.
Before what became the last year of Terry Bradshaw’s career. Pittsburgh had the chance to draft Dan Marino with the 21st overall selection. but it passed. After Ben Roethlisberger’s final game. the Steelers again had a chance to take Pitt product Kenny Pickett. this time with the 20th overall pick. and they moved quickly.
But after only two seasons, the Steelers punted on Pickett.
Earlier this week, former Steelers G.M. Kevin Colbert defended the original decision to draft the quarterback during an appearance on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh. Colbert’s argument was direct: Pittsburgh believed it had found the type of quarterback who could stabilize its offense right away.
“We projected Kenny to be a start-and-win NFL quarterback, and quite honestly, he lived up to that in his first two seasons with us,” Colbert said, via Jack Markowski of SI.com. “For us, he was 14-10 and trending in the right direction. So that’s what we thought we had in Kenny.”
Colbert retired before Pittsburgh made the trade that sent Pickett to the Eagles. He spent the 2024 season in Philadelphia, where he won a Super Bowl ring, unlike Marino. The following year, 2025, found Pickett in Las Vegas—after being traded to the Browns and then to the Raiders.
Now, Pickett sits on the Panthers’ depth chart behind starter Bryce Young. The shift from a Steelers draft pick with big expectations to a player working his way back for another chance doesn’t change how Colbert views his former quarterback’s ceiling.
“Kenny’s a great young man,” Colbert said. “He’s a great competitor. . . . And I still think at a young age, I still think Kenny can continue to build on what he did with us in those first two seasons.”
Pickett is now 28, and the next step is straightforward: he needs a real opportunity to play—and play well—if he wants to earn a chance to compete for a starting role again. For now, he’s been relegated to journeyman status.
The bigger question sits with the Steelers, who still don’t have a long-term answer at quarterback. They went 20 years between Bradshaw and Roethlisberger because they rarely picked high enough to get a potential franchise quarterback. and owner Art Rooney II has made it clear the team has no desire to “rebuild” in a way that simply hopes a top-10 selection will hand them the next savior.
Over their 53 years since winning their first playoff game on December 23. 1972. the Steelers have picked in the top 10 only five times—and never higher than No. 7. Colbert’s defense of Pickett lands in that larger reality: if Pittsburgh’s next quarterback truly has to be developed by being in the right draft position. the team may eventually need one of its uncharacteristic bottom-third seasons to put itself there.
It’s the kind of franchise problem you can measure in draft slots and years—yet it still feels personal when it involves real careers. Marino is the what-if from the 21st overall pick. Pickett is the what-happened-next from the 20th. And the Steelers are still hunting the quarterback who can join Bradshaw and Roethlisberger as the only true year-to-year franchise quarterbacks the franchise has ever had.
Kenny Pickett Kevin Colbert Pittsburgh Steelers Bryce Young Panthers Dan Marino Terry Bradshaw Ben Roethlisberger NFL quarterback