Reactions to the Steelers trading George Pickens have ranged from cautiously optimistic to downright dumbfounded. So how about a little positivity to usher us into the afternoon?
Former NFL QB Chase Daniel thinks there is a case to be made that the Steelers won the trade with the Dallas Cowboys, even if it wasn’t by the largest of margins.
“I definitely don’t think they got robbed,” Daniel said via FS1’s The Facility. “If anything, they broke even. I think they slightly may have won the trade. It’s really hard to see right now because we see what George Pickens is. But there’s a reason why the Pittsburgh Steelers traded George Pickens. They don’t wanna deal with the headaches.”
The idea of trading Pickens has been talked about since the middle of the 2024 season. It seemed unlikely that the Steelers would give a lucrative second contract to a receiver with as much baggage as Pickens given some of his maturity issues on and off the field. And the DK Metcalf trade only intensified the belief that Pickens’ time in Pittsburgh was coming to an end.
It’s impossible to evaluate who “won” the trade at this moment. Some look at the Steelers getting a second-round pick for Chase Claypool and think they could have done better. But Pickens is a one-year rental who is due a large contract extension next year. And the WR market just exploded following Ja’Marr Chase’s deal of over $40 million per season.
The Steelers could have squeezed one last year out of Pickens and then possibly recouped a third-round compensatory pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, but that was far from a guarantee. An injury, or a subsequent big signing next free agency by the Steelers could have easily canceled that out.
The Cowboys now have the possibility of getting that third-round pick in 2027, effectively shifting their 2026 third-round pick to a 2027 third rounder if they aren’t able to re-sign Pickens next offseason. Though they will carry the same risks in the comp pick system that the Steelers would have.
“I think both of them won,” Daniel said. “Here’s the thing though. I think the Steelers have this longer-term master plan and it definitely didn’t include George Pickens. And it’s playing into that because right now they’re set up with massive draft capital in the 2026 draft. You know what’s really good next year? The quarterback class.”
To me, this trade is pretty fair for both sides. Only time will tell the real story. But if the Steelers use that extra 2026 draft pick to select their next franchise quarterback who ushers in a new decade or two of success, I don’t think anyone will reflect on this trade poorly regardless of how Pickens performs the rest of his career.
