Proof piling up that Omar Khan worked dark sorcery with Kenny Pickett trade

The Pittsburgh Steelers officially pulled the plug on the Kenny Pickett experiment shortly after signing Russell Wilson. The former first-round pick was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, his childhood team, for a third-round pick and a couple of future seventh-round picks. The Steelers also gave up a fourth-round pick in the swap.

It was an ostensibly simple trade to anchor the backup QB spot behind Jalen Hurts while freeing up Pittsburgh to pursue Justin Fields. Pickett has been a lightning rod for strong opinions since his NFL debut, so this trade naturally created a firestorm on the internet. Some were left scratching their heads about Philadelphia's thought process, while others criticized the Steelers for putting all their eggs in the Russ Wilson basket.

It's probably a little premature to make definitive takeaways, but through two weeks of preseason football, Pickett has looked positively horrendous for the Eagles. He was situated pretty comfortably as the QB2 going into training camp, but Tanner McKee has been meaningfully better in preseason action. A couple of preseason games does not necessarily define a player's aptitude, but it's hard not to notice the disparity in quality.

If McKee is better, the Eagles can't prop Pickett up solely to preserve the integrity of a trade. Howie Roseman is widely considered one of the best GMs in football. Even the best miss every now and then. This sure looks like a miss.

Pickett completed 11-of-13 passes for 54 yards in the Eagles' 14-13 victory over the New England Patriots on Friday. That is 5.2 yards per attempt, continuing Pickett's time-honored tradition of hardly ever looking beyond the line to gain. He took four sacks. McKee, by comparison, completed 15-of-19 passes for 140 yards and didn't take a single sack, all while playing with reserves lower down the depth chart.

Steelers seem to have duped Eagles into giving up value for Kenny Pickett

The Steelers acquired the 98th pick in April's NFL Draft as part of the Pickett trade. That pick was used on NC State linebacker Payton Wilson, who became an immediate standout in training camp. The 24-year-old looked right at home in the Steelers' preseason debut last week, registering four tackles against the Buffalo Bills.

So, not only did the Steelers jump ship just in time from the looks of it, but they also received a potential difference-maker in Wilson. It's still early, which we cannot overemphasize, but Pickett's struggles are nothing new. He's still completing a healthy percentage of his passes and avoiding costly turnovers. The dude simply takes zero risks as a passer, which is an untenable approach for an NFL quarterback. You need to look downfield and move the chains with some level of aggression. Pickett gets too easily gun-shy.

Pittsburgh will need to see how its own QB room shakes up before popping the champagne — Justin Fields left the Steelers' preseason opener to mixed reactions — but rest assured that Steeler Nation will not miss Kenny Pickett's complete unwillingness to throw into tight windows or test defenders downfield.

Omar Khan has been rightfully criticized for a great many moves over the years, but swapping Kenny Pickett for Payton Wilson looks like an all-time heist through two preseason games. Let's see if it still looks that way once the regular season gets underway.