After trading WR George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys, the Pittsburgh Steelers won’t have their leading passer, rusher or receiver from 2024 back in 2025. QB Russell Wilson left in free agency, as did RB Najee Harris, and the team dealt away Pickens. Former NFL head coach Tony Dungy said on the Football Night In America podcast that he doesn’t know what the Steelers are doing after trading away Pickens, especially because their offense wasn’t good last season.
“Last year at this time, I was excited about the Steelers. I felt like they brought in a couple of quarterbacks who had potential. You can work with Russell Wilson and develop your young guy, and you can be in good shape. Now, take those two guys away. We’ve got neither one of those quarterbacks. Our number one running back is not there. Our number one receiver is not there. And we weren’t good enough last year on offense, so I don’t know where we’re going. I don’t know what the plan is. Hopefully, it will take shape, but I’m scratching my head right now.”
Pittsburgh was always unlikely to bring back Wilson and Harris, but the offense hasn’t gotten all that much better on paper. There’s an argument to be made that the run game will be better with Kaleb Johnson and Jaylen Warren leading the backfield. DK Metcalf, who the team acquired earlier this offseason, should be an upgrade over Pickens at receiver. Whoever winds up being the team’s No. 2 receiver will also represent an upgrade over Van Jefferson, but it’s hard to argue that this offense will definitively be better than last year, especially with Aaron Rodgers still unsigned.
It’s clear that the Steelers prioritized getting value for Pickens and weren’t going to re-sign him with 2025 being the last year of his contract. But he made the team better in 2025. While additional 2026 draft capital could be good for the future, the Steelers aren’t embracing the prospect of 2025 being a reset year. The team still has an eye on winning now, which is why the timing of the Pickens trade was certainly puzzling.
It seems as if the Steelers’ plan is to be good enough to potentially make the playoffs next season and push their chips all in for 2026 while looking for their franchise quarterback. But it’s understandable to see why Tony Dungy and others would be confused about what the team is doing. The Pickens trade made the Steelers worse, and it’s hard to get excited about what this team’s offense will be in 2025.
