Two things in life are meant to be broken:

Rules and Promises. 

And for former Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett, once HC Mike Tomlin broke the latter, he wanted out of town:

Kenny Pickett Betrayed?

How did this go sideways? Mike Tomlin had promised Kenny Pickett he’d get a chance to compete. Pickett learned about the Russell Wilson signing on social media Sunday night. When they spoke the next morning, Tomlin told Pickett that Wilson was in pole position and would get the… https://t.co/JJmgIyKojX

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 15, 2024

How did this go sideways? Mike Tomlin had promised Kenny Pickett he’d get a chance to compete. Pickett learned about the Russell Wilson signing on social media Sunday night. When they spoke the next morning, Tomlin told Pickett that Wilson was in pole position and would get the first reps. So, Pickett asked for a trade. Now he’s an Eagle. 

-Tom Pelissero, NFL Media 

Look, there are two sides to every story. The same group of people who believe that Pickett refused to be the backup against the Seahawks, are the same ones likely to believe that Kenny Pickett is "running from completion."

But as I was reliablily told then, and again when reporting the initial interest between Wilson and the Steelers, Pickett was a team player through it all and open to competing, whether it be back in the regular season, or the upcoming training camp in Latrobe. 

Instead, as reported by multiple outlets at this point, Pickett quickly learned there would be no competing, and Wilson was going to be handed the keys to the franchise regardless of what was "promised."

Now, both parties take part in the blame. For Kenny Pickett, the writing has been on the wall since the team kept him on the bench despite being medically cleared to play. 

Did he leave throws on the field? Yes. Did he regress in terms of his pocket work and overall decision-making from year one to two? Yes. Could he have handled questions about sitting behind Mason Rudolph better? Yes. 

And while all that may be true, it has little to do with the fact that Pittsburgh failed Pickett. 

They took a QB in the first round, put him behind a rag-tag group of pass protectors, and asked him to orchestrate an offense with a coordinator so bad, that he made Steelers history for becoming the first in-season firing in over 80 years. 

Beyond that, Pickett played a game and a half without Matt Canada as his play-caller, one of which was a win over the Bengals that saw him throw for nearly 300 yards on over 72% completion percentage before injuring his ankle the following week and ceasing to return following surgery. 

He managed all of this with headaches in the WR corps, a RB who openly took shots at the coaches, and an offensive line that saw one of their tenured starters lose his job after berating Matt Canada in front of the team. 

And still, despite being 14-11 in his career as a starter and having yet to play a full season, Pittsburgh has moved on from him. 

But That's fine.

Maybe Pittsburgh realized Kenny Pickett was never going to be an elite QB, something that is increasingly needed to compete in this league. 

But newsflash, he never was going to be a top 10 player at the position. There's a reason he was available at 20th overall, and in a QB class that was labeled one of the worst in years, which has turned out to be accurate. 

So shame on Pittsburgh. They never should have taken Pickett if they believed he was the rising tide that would lift all boats.

But in reality, they knew he wasn't. Instead, they believed he was a QB you could win with. Staying true to their traditionalist mantra, Pittsburgh aimed to build up their defense and re-tool their offensive line in an effort to play complimentary football based on running the ball and playing sound defense. 

But there were holes in the secondary, injuries that turned into deficiencies at LB, an offensive line that struggled to pass protect, and a play caller that held the longest active streak in the league in terms of not recording 400 yards of total offense in a game, dating back to the Big Ben era. 

So look, you can blame Kenny for not being good enough. That's fine, and honestly, it's pretty accurate. 

But you can't blame him for wanting a fresh start after what has transpired in not even two years, with Sunday night being the final straw.