Welcome to the terrible take, a daily segment telling Steeler Nation what's on our minds.

I'm Melanie Friedlander.

It was back in 2018 when Steeler's head coach Mike Tomlin famously explained,

we need volunteers, not hostages, when asked about

Levian Bell, who sat out the season instead of playing on the franchise tag.

Who would have thought that philosophy would now apply to their former first-round

draft pick,

quarterback Kenny Pickett.

And yet, here we are after a week of crazy free agency action.

The Steelers still have a quarterback selected

in the first round on their roster,

but his name is Justin Fields,

and they got him for a mere 2025 sixth round draft pick, which could turn it into a fourth rounder

if he plays more than 51% of the offensive snaps in the coming season.

But he probably won't see that much playing. 51% of the offensive snaps in the coming season.

But he probably won't see that much playing time

because Fields will be the backup to the newly signed

Super Bowl champion and nine-time Pro Bowler

quarterback Russell Wilson. And Kenny Pickett has been sent to the Philadelphia Eagles after requesting a trade

where he will have no chance to compete to be the starter.

How did it all go so horribly wrong?

Some of it isn't Pickett's fault. The Steelers

...