The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a precarious spot at wide receiver. A few years ago, the position was actually a strength for the team. Now, it’s become a glaring issue. Aside from George Pickens, the Steelers don’t have another consistent, proven option. Even with Pickens, things were anything but consistent in 2024.
Now, they’ve got a tough decision to make. Pickens is entering the last year of his rookie contract. He’s been productive throughout his time in Pittsburgh, but there’s been a laundry list of issues that have popped up during the first three years of his career.
One would usually expect a player to give extra effort in the final year of their deal. The premise makes sense, as that’s every player’s last chance to prove themselves before they begin negotiating a new deal. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo doesn’t think George Pickens cares that much, though.
“We’ve seen he’s been a pain in the neck the last three seasons,” Fittipaldo said, via Wednesday’s episode of the North Shore Drive podcast. “It could get even worse if he knows he’s not going to come back here.”
The issues Fittipaldo mentions are the reason why this is such a difficult decision for Pittsburgh. The situation has now started to reach a point of no return, with many doubting the Steelers even attempt to bring him back after the 2025 season.
However, Pittsburgh might bank on George Pickens wanting to perform well in his contract year. Even if he doesn’t end up having a future in Pittsburgh, the Steelers will want one more great season out of him as he attempts to set up his second contract. Fittipaldo thinks Pickens is rather careless when it comes to that.
“If he wanted to be with the Steelers, last year was the year to shape up and ball out,” Fittipaldo said. “Now he would be doing it to ball out with a free agent deal. I get that, but I just don’t think that George cares. He’s given away hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines to the NFL and back to the Steelers. He just doesn’t care.”
It’s hard to argue with Fittipaldo’s argument here. From an outside perspective, it’s perplexing. With Pickens’ talent, he should be in prime position to receive a massive second contract. Yet, due to problems of his own making, that remains up in the air. In all likelihood, some team will pay him a lot of money to play for his services. Pickens has a chance to give himself many more suitors, though, if he can clean things up and play well in 2025.
