With Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens having a contract year in 2025, he could be a candidate for an extension this offseason to avoid entering the last season of his deal. However, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette believes the team will not get an extension done with Pickens ahead of his walk year.
In his weekly chat, Dulac called one reader’s assumption of a Pickens extension a “big assumption,” and then in response to another question he directly said he doesn’t foresee a Pickens extension coming this offseason.
“Well, they will likely let Dan Moore and James Daniels go in free agency, so that will save quite a few pennies. But I don’t think you will see any Pickens extension handed out before the 2025 season,” Dulac wrote.
Pickens’ talent has never been in question, and he’s currently eighth in the NFL with 850 receiving yards. But his antics on the field have been an issue this season, and he cost the Steelers with two 15-yard penalties in Week 13 against the Bengals for unsportsmanlike conduct. That prompted Mike Tomlin to call out Pickens after the game, saying he needs to grow up, and it’s far from the first time there’s been attitude issues with Pickens.
That’s going to make it hard for the Steelers to commit to signing him to a top-of-the-line receiver contract, and the Steelers haven’t been afraid to cut bait with talented receivers before. They let Mike Wallace walk in free agency and traded Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant and Chase Claypool (although he was decidedly less talented than the others). The Steelers won’t be afraid to move on from Pickens if they don’t think he’s going to be worth the money.
Being worth the money will mean being productive on the field and not continually being a problem with his attitude on and off it. The fact that Pickens is in his third NFL season and still needs to be told to grow up publicly by his head coach is a problem, and it’s one that Pittsburgh might decide just isn’t worth it anymore. Pickens might be looking for an extension this offseason, and if he doesn’t get it, there’s at least a possibility that the Steelers look to trade him. Given he’s far and away their best receiver, the chances of that happening likely aren’t very high, but it’s an option.
Regardless, it sounds as if Pickens will be playing out a contract year in 2025 – and that Pittsburgh will have decisions to make about his future over the next two offseasons.
