{"id":46091,"date":"2025-05-05T02:17:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T02:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=46091"},"modified":"2025-05-05T02:17:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T02:17:19","slug":"breaking-nfl-insider-provides-bad-george-pickens-steelers-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=46091","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: NFL Insider Provides Bad George Pickens-Steelers Update.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2192445524-2.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2192445524-2.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2192445524-2.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2192445524-2.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"George Pickens\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-dom-ready-time=\"210\" data-img-load-time=\"501\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">NFL insider James Palmer provided a very negative update on Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Wide receiver\u00a0George Pickens\u00a0has been a lightning rod for controversy since arriving with the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0in 2022. That doesn\u2019t appear to be changing as Pickens is set to enter\u00a0the final year of his rookie contract.<\/p>\n<p>If anything, it\u2019s getting worse.<\/p>\n<p>Pundits have reported and speculated about\u00a0a potential split between the Steelers and Pickens this offseason. Publicly, the two sides have done what they can to dispute those rumblings.<\/p>\n<p>Bleacher Report\u2019s James Palmer added fuel to that fire Sunday, though, with a report that things are not going well between Pickens and the Steelers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis time in Pittsburgh, in a lot of people\u2019s minds, is limited,\u201d Palmer said,\u00a0via Steelers Depot\u2019s Ross McCorkle. \u201cIt has not gone well behind the scenes at all between George Pickens and the Pittsburgh Steelers are everybody involved.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould he play for them in 2025? Certainly could. Would he be departing after the season? Yes, in a lot of people\u2019s minds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers acquired\u00a0veteran wideout\u00a0D.K. Metcalf\u00a0for a second-round pick this offseason. Immediately after trading for Metcalf,\u00a0the Steelers signed him\u00a0to a four-year, $132 million contract.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s unlikely the Steelers will offer Pickens a big contract as well. It\u2019s not clear if that\u2019s the issue between Pickens and the Steelers, but that\u2019s certainly a possibility.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Will Steelers Trade WR George Pickens?<\/h2>\n<p>The Steelers are in an awkward spot with Pickens. As previously stated, they likely don\u2019t want to extend him a new deal right now because of the Metcalf acquisition. But trading him before the 2025 season isn\u2019t ideal either.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN\u2019s Jeremy Fowler explained why on Sunday morning\u2019s\u00a0<em>SportsCenter<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKeep in mind, the Steelers are in a position where they need to keep that receiver room as attractive as possible for that man you saw at the Kentucky Derby, Aaron Rodgers, not yet signed,\u201d Fowler said,\u00a0via Bleacher Report\u2019s Joseph Zucker. \u201cSo, they\u2019re not really in the business of trading off capable pieces right now that he could potentially be throwing to.<\/p>\n<p>Fowler added that trade negotiations the Steelers have engaged in with other teams involving Pickens \u201chave really cooled.\u201d The ESPN insider also said Pickens \u201cdoes want to stay in Pittsburgh\u201d and \u201cwants to make this work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not completely clear if Pickens wants to \u201cmake this work\u201d for just 2025 or in the long-term as well.<\/p>\n<p>On some level, the reports from Palmer and Fowler contradict each other. However, Palmer did state that Pickens could very well play for the Steelers in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>What Fowler said Sunday seems to be pointing in that direction too.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Could Steelers Move Pickens at NFL Trade Deadline?<\/h2>\n<p>Obviously, the Steelers didn\u2019t trade Pickens for a 2025 NFL Draft pick. If Pittsburgh was going to move on from the receiver this offseason, getting something in return either in the 2025 draft or the receiver room would have been ideal.<\/p>\n<p>Should the Steelers now move Pickens before the 2025 season, they will be back to where they were last year with only one truly capable receiver.\u00a0Calvin Austin III emerged with the opportunity during 2024, but he\u2019s likely best served in a No. 3 role going forward.<\/p>\n<p>And again, moving on from Pickens now could hurt Pittsburgh\u2019s chances of signing\u00a0Aaron Rodgers.<\/p>\n<p>But it could be a very different situation for the Steelers at the NFL trade deadline. If they fall out of the race early, it would be wise for Pittsburgh to deal any players on expiring contracts who have value.<\/p>\n<p>Very likely, Pickens would possess the most value of any Pittsburgh player.<\/p>\n<p>Some teams might be wary of acquiring him at the deadline because the Steelers fleeced the\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0in the\u00a0Chase Claypool trade three years ago. But Pickens is more talented than Claypool and probably won\u2019t cost a second-round pick on an expiring contract.<\/p>\n<p>Trading Pickens to the highest bidder at the deadline for a pick would give the Steelers more 2026 draft capital. That capital could help Pittsburgh draft a franchise quarterback next offseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty NFL insider James Palmer provided a very negative update on Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens. Wide receiver\u00a0George Pickens\u00a0has been a lightning rod for controversy since&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: NFL Insider Provides Bad George Pickens-Steelers Update.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=46091\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: NFL Insider Provides Bad George Pickens-Steelers Update.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty NFL insider James Palmer provided a very negative update on Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens. 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