The Pittsburgh Steelers have made their bed. In trading receiver George Pickens, the Steelers have effectively kneecapped the 2025 offense, seemingly in hopes of finding their franchise quarterback.
The merits of that process can be debated, but it cannot be divorced from the parts of Pickens’ profile that don’t have to do with his production.
For all of Pickens’ talent, his antics grew tiresome. Cincinnati Bengals corner Cam Taylor-Britt made it a point to get in his head, allowing Pickens to get himself in trouble – he did, with multiple penalties. The occasional lazy route doesn’t help his case, and his penchant for unnecessary roughness penalties has paved his path to Dallas.
Pittsburgh got a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 Day 3 pick swap for a receiver it wasn’t intent on signing long term. That decision doesn’t get made without head coach Mike Tomlin’s signature, but the early indication is that he had some support.
One report from Mark Kaboly suggested Steelers veterans played a role in the Pickens trade.
“I think it needed to be done,” Kaboly said, via Matthew Marczi of Steelers Depot. “I think it was getting really ugly behind the scenes there. And I think some of the players of veteran leadership weren’t too thrilled with George. I don’t know the timeline on that. So I think that pushed it to the edge.”
Tomlin has made a career out of managing big personalities and shielding them from the media when necessary. He can’t hide Pickens from his peers. It’s not worth speculating which veterans were in or out on Pickens, but it’s easy to imagine a core of respected veterans coming to a consensus.
“I think a lot of the players were finally fed up with him, and the right players were fed up with him,” Kaboly said.
That doesn’t mean that Pickens’ story will follow a similar trend with the Dallas Cowboys. The spotlight is significant and the expectations will be higher, but with a new cast of characters around him, most importantly under center, he’ll have the opportunity to right the ship before cashing in during free agency.
