Mike Tomlin opens up about trades of Kenny Pickett, Diontae Johnson

The Steelers’ head coach spoke about the trades for the first time

The Steelers have been arguably the most active team in the NFL since the new league year began, and inarguably the most active team on the trade market.

The Steelers have orchestrated three trades over the last two weeks, sending quarterback Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles, wide receiver Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers, and acquiring quarterback Justin Fields from the Chicago Bears.

Head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about the trades at the NFL league meetings in Orlando. When speaking about Pickett, he said the former first-round pick wanted to make a change.

“From his perspective, he felt like a change of scenery would be a good thing,” Tomlin said. “Obviously when we felt the trajectory of the business with Chicago moving in the right direction, those dominoes started falling.”

Tomlin continued.

“I won’t get into specifics about our conversations, but I am appreciative of his efforts during his time in Pittsburgh and I wish him nothing but the best in Philadelphia.”

When Tomlin was asked about Johnson, he said Johnson didn’t ask to be traded and that there was no expression of frustration. He also noted that he was happy to get cornerback Donte Jackson in return.

“We traded player for player,” Tomlin said. “We had an opportunity to get [Jackson]. He’s a guy that we’ve evaluated probably several times since he’s been in the league… They needed Diontae, we needed D-Jack. It was a good exchange.”

Overall, the Steelers traded Kenny Pickett, a fourth-round pick, Diontae Johnson, a seventh-round pick, and a 2025 sixth-round pick for a third-round pick, two 2025 seventh-round picks, a sixth-round pick, Donte Jackson, and Justin Fields.