As the days pass following the Pittsburgh Steelers trading wide receiver George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys, more and more details continue to emerge about what went on behind the scenes.
Recently, we found out that not only was head coach Mike Tomlin on board with the trade, he was “behind it,” according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
So, what was the final straw that made Tomlin part ways with one of his best offensive playmakers?
Per Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it might have been Pickens’ tardiness for a 2024 contest, which was just his latest misstep.
“Everybody else is all-in trying to help a team get to the playoffs and winning in the playoffs and you have this guy who’s not really engaged with the process,” he said. “And tons of other things that took place over the last couple years.
“I would tend to think that the tardiness, and especially being tardy for a game and a game of that important, is probably something that maybe put him over the edge.”
The game Fittipaldo is referring to was the Christmas Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs last season where, according to The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo, Pickens didn’t show up until after inactives were released.
“When he was finally healthy, how did he respond?” DeFabo wrote. “By showing up late for the Christmas Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Tomlin asks players to report to games at least two hours before kickoff. On Dec. 25, Pickens walked through the media entrance an hour and 25 minutes before kickoff. That was after inactive players were announced.”
That wasn’t the only time Pickens was late to work.
Reports suggested he was tardy for practices on multiple occasions, and former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmanzadeh revealed that Pickens was late for a team flight and for the team bus “multiple times” during a guest appearance on the “Up on Game” podcast.
At the end of the day, it just became too much for the Steelers to tolerate, and doing so any longer could have led to problems in the locker room.
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