George Pickens’ time in Pittsburgh was eventful, to say the least. Pickens was shipped to the Dallas Cowboys earlier this week, marking the end of his era in Pittsburgh. He becomes another temperamental receiver the Steelers have now moved on from.
Despite some of the issues he had in Pittsburgh, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that Pickens didn’t want to leave.
“The issues in Pittsburgh were very clear,” Fowler said on NFL Live on Friday. “The maturity and the accountability, or lack thereof. He can go to Dallas and try to show that. From what I was told, he didn’t want to leave Pittsburgh. He was loyal to Mike Tomlin, wanted to see it through.”
One thing that stands out from Fowler’s report is Pickens being “loyal” to Mike Tomlin. It’s not surprising, but it goes to show just how much Tomlin had his star receiver’s back.
Back in 2023 during a Steelers victory over the Tennessee Titans, some of the first issues with Pickens came to light. He was coming off a poor stretch of play before that game. Then, he showed frustration on the field during their win. Even after positing “free me” on his Instagram story, which he would say had nothing to do with the Steelers, Tomlin didn’t criticize Pickens, calling the situation a ‘pebble’ in his shoe.
Throughout George Pickens’ tenure as a Steeler, Tomlin did his best to defend him. The most Tomlin ever really said about Pickens was that he needed to “grow up” and that statement even came later in the 2024 season, a season in which Pickens put himself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons consistently.
The Steelers didn’t give Pickens a ton of help on the field, admittedly. Playing with Dak Prescott in 2025, Pickens will have a quarterback significantly better than anyone who was throwing him the ball over the past three years.
It makes sense why Pickens would feel loyal to Tomlin. He’s a players’ coach and has done well with players even more disruptive than Pickens. Tomlin also used the media to deflect blame away from Pickens as much as possible. Fowler’s comments about Pickens wanting to stay in Pittsburgh also align with what Pickens himself said on Thursday.
Still, we’ve also heard that Tomlin was behind the decision to send George Pickens packing. There comes a time when a fresh start just makes sense for all parties. That seems to be the case here.
For Pickens, while he’s heading into an excellent opportunity, there’s a lot he needs to prove. He’s not the main target anymore, and we’ve seen him show frustration when the ball isn’t coming his way. He’s now in one of the few NFL cities that may have even more focus on it than Pittsburgh. How he handles the 2025 season will go a long way in determining his NFL future.
