Some Pittsburgh Steelers fans might have a laundry list of bad things to say about wide receiver George Pickens. But Pickens did his best not to bad-mouth the team that drafted him during his Dallas Cowboys introductory press conference.
When asked about what didn’t work out with the Steelers, Pickens kept his answer brief, professional and focused on his new team.
“This game is just as much a business as it is football,” Pickens said, via The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “It’s kinda like out of my control.
“I’m glad to be here in Dallas and able to continue the winning culture that they have.”
The Steelers agreed to trade Pickens to the Cowboys for a 2026 third-round pick. The two teams also exchanged 2027 draft selections in the deal.
WR George Pickens Reactions to Steelers-Cowboys Trade
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio argued Wednesday the Pickens-Steelers divorce “was a long time coming.” At the very least, the writing was on the wall this offseason.
Pickens is set to enter a contract season in 2025. In his Cowboys introductory press conference, the receiver said he was “not really thinking about contract talks.” But most pundits have argued the Steelers traded Pickens before the 2025 campaign because they didn’t plan to extend the receiver.
So, having the immature Pickens play on an expiring deal was not a good idea.
It became clear to the public that Pickens wouldn’t receive another contract from Pittsburgh when the Steelers traded for wideout DK Metcalf. Immediately after acquiring Metcalf in March, the Steelers signed him to a four-year, $132 million extension.
It would have been surprising to see Pittsburgh also ink Pickens to a big contract, especially with no long-term solution behind center.
It’s not clear, but when Pickens mentioned the NFL being a business, he could have been referring to his contract situation and the offseason Metcalf trade/extension.
At One Point, Pickens Had Control of His Steelers Future
Pickens isn’t wrong to suggest the trade was out of his control. No NFL insider reported he requested to be traded, and it was the Steelers’ decision to choose Metcalf over him.
But it’s not entirely accurate to say Pickens never had control of his future in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers drafted the wideout at No. 52 overall despite his obvious red flags from college.
CBS Sports’ Aditi Kinkhabwala reported in December 2024 one general manager ranked Pickens as the most-talented receiver in the 2022 draft. However, that GM said he didn’t have Pickens on their team’s draft board. He added a lot of other teams probably felt the same way about the receiver.
“On tape, he is probably a top-5 wide receiver, but there’s just so many red flags, and they’re big red flags,” an anonymous NFL receiver coach told former Steelers insider Ed Bouchette in 2022. “He’s got a lot of growing up to do. If he goes to the right place with a room full of veterans that help him go the right way, I think he’ll have a chance.”
The Steelers appeared to give Pickens multiple chances to show more maturity. But despite calls from head coach Mike Tomlin and others, Pickens never really grew up while in Pittsburgh.
In just the final six weeks of the 2024 regular season, Pickens was involved in four separate controversies.
He committed two 15-yard penalties in Week 12 versus the Cincinnati Bengals. On Christmas Day, Pickens reportedly showed up 40 minutes late for the game. Then afterwards, he oddly congratulated Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce in front of the Netflix cameras.
Before the following week’s game, Pickens engaged in a contentious interview with Steelers Now’s Alan Saunders over the semantics of a Russell Wilson quote.
There were also countless other similar controversies with Pickens earlier during the 2024 season and in 2023.
If the receiver had shown more growth in his maturity, the Steelers likely don’t trade him to Dallas. But instead, the Steelers made the business decision to move on.
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