Leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft, and even partway through it, the name of Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens was tossed about as a possible trade chip, despite GM Omar Khan stating in the week leading up to the draft that he was happy to have Pickens pairing with star receiver DK Metcalf moving forward.
Turns out though, Pickens’ name was involved in a few trade talks.
According to The Athletic NFL insider Dianna Russini, Pickens was talked about in a few trades, including with the Dallas Cowboys, who were interested in bringing in the fourth-year receiver.
“I can just tell you, right before the draft and during the draft [the Steelers] were calling around, teams were calling them, there were conversations flying around about George Pickens,” Russini said Tuesday on the Scoop City podcast. “But I think it’s probably at this point not going to be something we see.”
Pickens has been mentioned as a trade candidate due to the 2022 second-round pick entering the final year of his rookie contract. The Steelers are unlikely to extend him given that they are already paying major money to Metcalf and the headaches Pickens has caused on the field and throughout social media during his time in Pittsburgh.
While ESPN’s Brooke Pryor stated last week that it appeared the Steelers were trending toward an extension for Pickens, that seems very unlikely. And the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac reported that the Steelers never really came close to trading Pickens during the draft.
But the Cowboys were out there as a landing spot, according to Russini.
Prior to the draft, Dallas owner Jerry Jones stated that the Cowboys were working on two substantive trades, and Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson added that the Cowboys had been hunting for a receiver and that Pickens’ name was out there.
Turns out, there was real buzz to that. But the Steelers decided to hold onto Pickens through the draft, and now Russini expects the trade buzz around Pickens to cool.
Pickens is coming off a season in which he hauled in 59 passes for 900 yards and three touchdowns. At times, he looked like a dominant No. 1 receiver in the making. But then, a hamstring injury coupled with some immaturity issues rearing their ugly head again led to a tough close to the season for Pickens.
Now, though, he has a chance to bounce back in a contract year and either extend his time in Pittsburgh or improve his stock for a big payday elsewhere.
