Were you planning on giving that special Pittsburgh Steelers fan on your Christmas shopping list a George Pickens jersey as a gift this year? If so, you might want to second-guess that gift choice. Why? Well, quite honestly, I think there’s a chance that Pickens not only fails to play out his rookie contract with the Steelers, he might not even be part of the 2024 team.
Pickens’ second year in the NFL certainly hasn’t gone as planned and it has him quite frustrated. While the frustration factor is understandable to a degree, how he has been showing that frustration these last several weeks certainly is a cause for concern.
In the Steelers’ Saturday loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the effort of Pickens certainly could be questioned on a few plays with the most notable one being a first half red zone run by RB Jaylen Warren. On that play, as many of you reading this surely have seen by now, Pickens’ run blocking effort on that play was pretty much non-existent. He was an easy target when it came to that play and predictably it blew up on social media.
On Tuesday, Pickens finally addressed the media for the first time since the Colts game and when talking about the effort part of his game, he made things worse for himself in the eyes of many.
“Yeah, all the people that’s questioning my effort, they don’t play football,” Pickens said to reporters, according to a tweet from ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “They do what y’all [the media] do.”
If that weren’t enough, Pickens then proceeded to talk about how he was attempting to avoid injuring himself on that particular play and related that to a play that Houston Texans WR Tank Dell was seriously injured on a few weeks ago.
“I was just trying to prevent the Tank Dell situation, the same thing that happened to [him]. I ain’t want to get an injury,” Pickens said, according to a tweet from Pryor. “When you stay on the block too low, you can get ran up on very easily.”
If you have seen the play that Dell was injured on, it’s really hard to compare that one to the Saturday play against the Colts that has everyone’s attention this week.
If all of that isn’t enough, Pickens’ Tuesday media session also included him essentially shooting down the notion that he and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had some sort of meeting prior to the Colts game. Tomlin, in case you missed it, told Bob Labriola about that supposed meeting during their weekly sit-down, which was recapped Saturday morning on Steelers.com.
Did Pickens not fully understand the question? Was he confused about the timeframe related to that question? I certainly don’t know for sure. That said, his response does make it seem like Tomlin was lying to Labriola.
With the recent Pickens’ timeline now updated, what will Tomlin do on the heels this trainwreck of a week? Will he make Pickens inactive on Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals? Will he bench Pickens for a series or two, or even the entire first quarter? I kind of doubt it and quite honestly, I’m not sure that he can because of personnel and competitiveness needs.
Look, the Steelers currently have five wide receivers on their 53-man roster right now and one of them is Miles Boykin, who is more of a special teams asset than he is a wide receiver asset. If Pickens were to be made inactive on Saturday, another wide receiver would likely need to be elevated from the practice squad on Friday and that might not be a possible move depending on whether inside linebacker Myles Jack and safety Eric Rowe both require elevations. In short, the logistics related to Pickens maybe being inactive on Saturday are tough ones to maneuver around and especially when we are talking about a team still mathematically alive in the playoff race.
Assuming Pickens does suit up and play on Saturday against the Bengals, what will that look like on his end if the offense continues to struggle with QB Mason Rudolph likely to get his first start of 2023 in place of injured starter Kenny Pickett? Sure, if Pickens gets a lot of targets and plays well on Saturday, the ire directed at him these past few weeks might decrease some. Or at least until the next game.
What if, however, we still find ourselves talking about negative energy or actions from Pickens after the game against the Bengals is over with? What if we continue to do that after the team’s final two games as well?
Personally, it’s not hard to think at this point that the Steelers could be considering moving on from Pickens in some shape or form after the 2023 season is over with and especially if they truly believe that more troublesome and immature times are lie ahead for their former second round draft pick out of Georgia. Could we ultimately see Pickens traded away by the start of the 2024 NFL Draft? Right now, I don’t think you can totally discount the possibility of that happening as we sit here today.
What if Pickens is kept after this season? Will the tiger in him change his stripes just like that?
I will say this about Pickens remaining with the Steelers in 2024. As things sit right now, he is on pace to earn a Level Two Proven Performance Escalator raise in 2024 which would go into effect in 2025, the final year of his rookie contract. That raise, however, isn’t worth talking about because I can almost guarantee you that Pickens will be looking for a very lucrative contract extension after the 2024 season, assuming he stays healthy. What will that 2025 offseason look like? Will it include an offseason hold-in? That would be my bet. What if the Steelers balk at meeting whatever price tag he’ll have in his head? Think about that for a little bit.
Let me start winding down by saying that I think Pickens is an extremely talented wide receiver. On top of that, I do understand the root of his frustrations this season. Beyond that, however, I struggle with how he is carrying himself right now and I’m sure Tomlin, GM Omar Khan and team president Art Rooney II all are as well. If his attitude and effort doesn’t shape up in these final three games of 2023, I won’t be surprised to see him jettisoned by the start of the 2024 NFL Draft. Prior to the start of the 2023 regular season, I never thought I would be writing such a statement come Week 16 of the season, but alas, here we are.
In closing, I would think twice about giving a Steelers fan on your Christmas shopping list this year a No. 14 Pickens jersey as it might go out of fashion quickly. Additionally, if you wind up being a recipient of a No. 14 Pickens jersey on Christmas Day, you might want to politely ask the giver of that present for the sales receipt and not remove the manufacture tags from it until the 2024 NFL Draft ends.
