If the Pittsburgh Steelers want to trade WR George Pickens, they have a funny way of showing it, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t listening to offers for him. In fact, at least one recent report indicates that they are, and even making some calls. What exactly is the nature of those calls, especially the ones they’re making, though?
Even before they traded for WR DK Metcalf, speculation about the Steelers trading George Pickens has peppered the entire offseason. Entering a contract year with a history of immaturity, it’s no surprise, despite his talent. It would be one thing if his production stated his case for him, but even there, something is lacking. So where do they stand on him going into the draft?
“I think they would love to be made a really good offer for [George Pickens]. But from what I’ve been told, they are not actively shopping him”, Aditi Kinkhabwala said on 93.7 The Fan. “Part of that goes back to what I said two months ago. I don’t know that there’s a huge market for him”.
Conveniently, we know what we said about Pickens and his interest from the rest of the league. “If Mike Tomlin gives up on a player, only someone delusional would take a chance on that player”, she said. “Talked to an exec today who said after the Chase Claypool fleecing, he thinks everyone gets that”.
During the 2022 season, the Steelers traded WR Chase Claypool to the Chicago Bears for a second-round pick. Chicago ended up bottoming out and they held the top pick in the second round of the 2023 draft. With the 32nd-overall selection, the Steelers drafted CB Joey Porter Jr., and Claypool is unsigned. George Pickens is more talented than Claypool, but he shares and even surpasses his maturity issues.
Most recently, during an otherwise quiet offseason for him, Pickens unfollowed the Steelers at some point within the past few weeks. Evidently, this is not the first time he has done so, perhaps in prior scrapings of social media. And to be fair, it’s impossible to definitively say what this means, if it means anything at all. Typically, though, a player unfollowing his team is seen as an indication of unhappiness with the organization.
So is the Steelers’ activity concerning shopping George Pickens tied to a lack of significant interest? Or do they really want to hold on to him for anything but the most absurd of trade offers? At least publicly, that is how they have framed previous trades like the Claypool and Martavis Bryant ones. Of course, doing so helps to boost a player’s trade value, as well.
