One of the top storylines to watch leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft was whether or not the Pittsburgh Steelers would trade George Pickens or select a wide receiver high in the draft to leave their options open leading up to the season. Neither of those two things happened, but it doesn’t sound like it’s been smooth sailing behind closed doors.
“His time in Pittsburgh, in a lot of people’s minds, is limited,” NFL insider James Palmer said in a video posted on Bleacher Report’s feed. “…It has not gone well behind the scenes at all between George Pickens and the Pittsburgh Steelers and everybody involved. And this is leading up to, could he play for them in 2025? Certainly could. Would he be departing after the season? Yes, in a lot of people’s minds.”
Pickens’ long-term future in Pittsburgh was likely sealed when they traded for DK Metcalf and gave him a new contract worth $33 million per season in new money. The chances of the Steelers giving another expensive contract to a receiver is already slim. Those chances seem especially slim for a receiver like Pickens who’s had maturity issues on and off the field.
In the days leading up to the draft, it seemed like things were spiraling towards a trade. The Dallas Cowboys were among multiple teams who reached out about Pickens. Jerry Jones even said they had two substantive trades they were working on to be completed either during or after the draft. In the midst of that, at some point over the last month, Pickens unfollowed the Steelers on social media.
No trade happened, but ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler has since reported that Pickens “flirted” with making a formal trade request to the Steelers. He also stated that trade talks had cooled and that Pickens wants to be in Pittsburgh, for what it’s worth.
Even before the Metcalf trade, there were fears that Pickens could create issues heading into the final year of his rookie contract without a new deal. It wouldn’t be unusual behavior in today’s NFL for that to happen, and Pickens already has a history of creating minor problems. Will he create issues this season as Metcalf takes the WR1 job away from him?
“All signs point to a departure of George Pickens at some point before the 2026 season,” Palmer said. “Whether that’s some point between now and the start of the season. I don’t see a trade happening right now. We’ll see…But I think his time is limited there.”
I have my doubts about what Pickens’ trade value will be at the deadline as a seven-game rental set to become an unrestricted free agent in March, but maybe that ends up being a logical time to part ways. If not, he has a chance at returning a third-round compensatory draft pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
GM Omar Khan sure seemed to imply they plan on having both Pickens and Metcalf this upcoming season in his press conference at the NFL owners meeting a few weeks ago, and their actions during the draft backed that up.
