Former Pittsburgh Steelers center/guard Kendrick Green revealed on Breiden Fehoko's podcast that Mike Tomlin sent him a blunt message after he was traded in 2023.
"He told me when [the Steelers] traded me, 'We probably didn't put you in the best position to develop,'" Green stated. "He said, 'So what, this is your career, not mine. You gotta figure this sh*t out. Go live that life.'
:I [was in] a team meeting every week. [Tomlin would say], 'KG, we gotta get this, this cleaned up,' yada, yada, yada. 'I'm not no o-line coach, fix that sh t," Tomlin said to Green and Adrian Klemm. "It would just be that. He would literally say that. 'I'm not a line coach, Klemm, that sht needs to be fixed yesterday.'"
Green is now on his third team since leaving the Steelers in August of 2023. The Steelers drafted Green in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Green played mostly guard at Illinois, but because he is slightly undersized for the position at the NFL level, the Steelers moved Green to center, where they had a vacancy after the retirement of Maurkice Pouncey .
Green is currently with the Cleveland Browns, where he had spent the entire 2025 season without being elevated for a game. The Browns placed starting center Ethan Pocic on the injured reserve list two weeks ago with a torn Achilles. Former sixth-round pick Luke Wypler has started each of the last two games.
Green started 15 games for the Steelers in 2021, in what was considered to be an unmitigated failure. By the end of the season, he was benched for former undrafted free agent J.C. Hassenauer.
"I'm telling everyone what to do [as the starting center]," Green said. "I'm like, 'How do I block this dude? What's my technique?' I'm spinning. I think, looking back, I had no business being out there as a rookie. I was not ready."
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Kendrick Green Opens Up on Brutal Tenure with Steelers: 'I Was Not Ready'
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