The George Pickens saga has consumed the Steelers’ offseason, or at least the portions not consumed by Mike Tomlin’s quarterback quandary. What are the Steelers to do with their mercurial star, who has talent and childishness in equal abundance? To which side do the Steelers believe the scale is tipping going into his final season?
Mike DeFabo of The Athletic wonders if that might not depend upon who you ask within the Steelers facility. And I think you can guess who shares what opinion. While Mike Tomlin might acknowledge that George Pickens has some growing up to do, he seems to believe he is the one who will nurture that growth, perhaps at all costs.
Speaking on 93.7 The Fan recently, DeFabo believes Steelers president Art Rooney II’s recent comments showed clear frustration with George Pickens. “But Mike Tomlin, to his credit and also to his fault, I think believes he can fix anybody”. He said that he gives Tomlin credit for his “sense of loyalty and obligation”, which surely has borne fruit before.
“But in other instances, it’s almost like he’s too Mike Tomlin, where he’s so much himself that he feels some obligation to fix George [Pickens] or help him reach his potential when, really, he should feel an obligation to winning a playoff game”, he added. As a reminder, the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016, their longest drought of the Super Bowl era.
DeFabo added that he believes this is where “Omar Khan and Art Rooney need to step in and be like, ‘Look, you haven’t done it yet. It’s been three years. It might be getting worse more than it’s getting better. Let’s just get a pick out of it and remake that position’”.
But what kind of trade compensation could the Steelers get for George Pickens? Obviously, they got a high second-round pick for Chase Claypool. They generally have a pretty good return on investment when trading wide receivers. But has their cachet run out regarding their reputation as a wide receiver factory?
That’s what I can’t help but wonder when contemplating the Steelers trading Pickens. Even in the case of Claypool, he was still in the middle of his third season. Pickens is in the final year of his deal, and frankly, he’s never come close to a nine-touchdown season. Yes, everybody has seen Pickens’ highlight reel, but I think teams are more privy to the lowlights, too. I think whether he has proven capable of being a true No. 1 WR is debatable.
And there is the simple fact that everybody knows Mike Tomlin thinks he’s the problem child whisperer. He thinks he can save every head case; if the Steelers are giving up on George Pickens, that’s a huge buyer beware.
It would have to be a team like the Bears, who really covets Pickens making a ridiculous offer. And to be fair, that’s not impossible. He has talent that can be seductive, and someone out there will think they can unlock him. No question, he could put up better numbers in a more productive offense. However, whether more consistent production leads to better behavior is a gamble.
