The subject of one’s worth so often seems to come down to a balance sheet of what you offer versus what you take away. So long as you contribute more positively than you do negatively, you stand a fair chance of sticking around in a field in which your services are in demand.
We saw this play out spectacularly with the Pittsburgh Steelers and former WR Antonio Brown, who for years cultivated a personality that proved to be false, and which quickly unraveled in ugly fashion in 2019 and beyond.
Nobody is, or at least should be, accusing current Steelers WR George Pickens as being in that realm of destructive behavior, but at the same time, he’s also nowhere near who Brown was on the field. Many choose to believe that he is just as talented, but the results aren’t there yet.
And if he’s not going to become a Pro Bowler on the field, then one has to wonder what his worth is—to anybody. After his latest on-field disappointments in Indianapolis, getting beat on a jump ball, loafing on a block, and pouting on the sideline, it’s begun to fuel a national discussion about his future in Pittsburgh.
“If you can’t stop him from going five minutes before he throws his toys out of the pram and goes off in a sulk on the sideline, you’re gonna have a problem”, the Pro Football Focus crew said about him. Peter King also ripped him this week, while Charles Robinson suggested trading him.
As always when there’s a discussion about trade value, of course, there have to be two parties in agreement on the value of the commodities being exchanged. What is Pickens’ value right now? The Steelers have gotten good prices for wide receivers with trouble in the past, a third-round pick for Martavis Bryant and a second rounder for Chase Claypool.
But at this point, one wonders if the Steelers’ good track record for return on investment in these deals will actually work against them. Who wants to be the next team to trade for a disgruntled Steelers wide receiver who is not living up to his early potential and is the frequent subject of questions about his effort and maturity?
Responding to a Steelers Depot article about Robinson’s suggestion of weighing trade options for Pickens, NFL reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala weighed in. “You are assuming there is a buyer here”, she wrote on Twitter. “The year he came out, I had multiple convos w/ multiple GMs who said he was the most talented WR that year – and yet, not on their board. Those same GMs said if any coach would reach him, it was Mike Tomlin”.
That’s all true. At least the part about her saying that last year. She even said it on 93.7 The Fan in training camp last year. “There’s a general manager in the league who told me that their organization believed Pickens was the best receiver in the entire draft, and that although there were some red flags about him, this is the absolute best situation for him”, she said.
There was plenty of talk leading up to the 2022 draft about potential maturity concerns for the young wide receiver. The tone of the conversation shifted once he landed in Pittsburgh, many confident that it would give him the best chance to succeed off the field. The only problem is, he’s not succeeding enough on the field to be able to contain his emotions, and it appears to be affecting him on the field as well.
The Steelers publicly stated they had no intentions of trading Bryant and Claypool before they traded those players. But they were given offers they couldn’t refuse. I would be very surprised if the Steelers were to move on from Pickens in the near future for anything less than a significant draft pick. But I might be surprised if a team does offer them that, with the direction things are headed.
