On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers shipped wide receiver George Pickens, along with a 2027 sixth-round pick, to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth.
This is just the latest change for an offense that has acquired a two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver (DK Metcalf) and lost their starting quarterback (Russell Wilson), running back (Najee Harris) and left tackle (Dan Moore Jr.) this offseason.
While many expected Pickens to be traded once the Steelers acquired Metcalf in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks back in March, NFL analyst Mike Florio took a shot at Pittsburgh on “Pro Football Talk” on Friday.
“At his best last year, it was Russell Wilson uncorking the deep ball without regard to whether or not George Pickens was covered,” Florio said. “And George Pickens goes to get it. You need to have that faith in him, and you need to show the commitment to his skills.
“I think that was one of the problems in Pittsburgh. He’s highly talented, but I never felt like the Steelers fully embraced and cultivated the talents that he had.”
After taking Pickens in the second round (No. 52 overall) of the 2022 NFL draft out of Georgia, where he was a national champion, the Steelers gave him a prominent role right away.
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While he was the team’s second wide receiver behind Diontae Johnson as a rookie, Pickens took over the top spot on the depth chart in 2023 and that trend continued in 2024. Over his three seasons in Pittsburgh, he played in 48 games and caught 174 passes for 2,841 yards and 12 touchdowns.
The Steelers didn’t exactly do everything to get the most out of Pickens, as they didn’t exactly have the best quarterback situations between Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph, Mitch Trubisky, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields starting games under center. It could also be argued that they kept offensive coordinator Matt Canada around too long, which hurt the offense and the team’s overall chances of winning.
However, Pickens had his own issues which ultimately impacted his performance on the field, and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin just may have gotten to the point where he wanted to move on, get the draft picks and prepare for the future.
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