The Pittsburgh Steelers made a blockbuster trade on Sunday to acquire WR DK Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks. Theoretically, acquiring Metcalf gives the Steelers one of the top receiver tandems in the league along with WR George Pickens, but Metcalf’s acquisition could spell the end of Pickens’ tenure in Pittsburgh. While he doesn’t have any information that Pickens wants out, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio doesn’t think Pickens will be in Pittsburgh for 2025.
“I don’t think [George] Pickens is gonna be there. I don’t know this, but I don’t think he’s going to be there. He’s not going to be able to handle this,” Florio said on PFT Live on Monday.
Florio argued that Pittsburgh’s offense can’t satisfy two top receivers.
“They don’t have the kind of offense that justifies one. That’s what’s so stunning about this. You gotta get the ball to one guy first on a consistent basis, which they haven’t been able to do to George Pickens. So if they get the ball enough to DK Metcalf to justify $33 million per year, they’re never gonna be able to pump up Pickens’ numbers to the point where he’s gonna be valuable to them or anyone else. He should want out. He should want out because he’s no longer WR1 in Pittsburgh.”
With Pickens entering a contract year, Florio’s basic argument is that the addition of Metcalf will hurt Pickens’ numbers and make him less attractive as a free agent next summer. That may be true, but there’s also an argument to be made that Metcalf will help free up Pickens. Last year, Van Jefferson was essentially Pittsburgh’s No. 2 WR on the outside, and he had one of the least-productive seasons of any receiver who played over 700 regular season snaps.
Defenses were able to spend more attention keying on Pickens, but the addition of another top receiver, especially one who offers a similar skillset as Pickens, could free him up to make plays downfield.
There’s also the possibility that Florio’s right. We still don’t know who Pittsburgh’s quarterback will be next season, which is a determining factor into how good the offense can be. George Pickens was also targeted six or less times on four occasions in 14 games last season, but all in all, I don’t think the Pittsburgh offense will be unable to support both Pickens and Metcalf. I’d think the two should be able to feed off each other, and it’s really the first time in his career that Pickens has a legitimate weapon across from him at receiver.
While Pickens may not see it that way and may wind up wanting out to try and produce more elsewhere, he and Metcalf could be a duo similar to Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster for the Steelers in 2025. I don’t think the Steelers would’ve made the move for Metcalf if they didn’t view him as upgrading their room alongside Pickens rather than instead of Pickens.
