Friday afternoon news:

Schefter says the Steelers are getting pick #98 (a third rounder) and two 7th round picks next year. The Eagles get Pickett and pick #120 (in the fourth). Essentially they’re just swapping a third for a fourth, throwing in a couple of trash picks for good measure, and grabbing their backup QB following Marcus Mariota’s departure.

Putting aside the hot take knee jerk reactions for a second, this is a great bit of Howie business. A pick swap for a 2022 first round selection who happens to be from New Jersey, loved Donovan McNabb, and was a big Eagles fan? There’s a lot of value there, and make no mistake – the Steelers absolutely stunk. Say what you will about Pickett’s performance, but Matt Canada ran a terrible offense and that team was devoid of weapons. The OL was meh. This is going to be night and day going from Yinzerville to Philadelphia.

The other thing is that sports talk radio is gonna have a field day with this one. “They’re concerned about Jalen Hurts! They don’t trust him!” You’re gonna hear that all weekend long and into next week, then the next week, and the week after that. And maybe it’s true or maybe it’s not, but that’s for people to blather into the echo chamber, incessantly. What I know, and what you know, is that the backup quarterback position is valuable in the NFL and the Eagles taking it seriously is the reason they won their first and only Super Bowl. If anything, this lights a fire under Jalen Hurts in 2024 and he plays at a Pro Bowl level again. And if he’s scared of Kenny Pickett and his small hands, he should get a dog.