The Pittsburgh Steelers trading fourth-year wide receiver George Pickens wasn’t much of a surprise, considering he was entering the final year of his rookie contract, wasn’t going to get an extension from the Steelers after they paid DK Metcalf big money, and likely was going to be a bit of a problem at times in 2025.
The timing of trading Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys Wednesday morning along with a sixth-round pick in 2027 for a third-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and a fifth-round pick in 2027, was a a surprise, considering the Steelers held onto Pickens through the 2025 NFL Draft and didn’t draft a wide receiver, either.
So, a hole is opened up once again for the Steelers at the receiver position, just like last year.
For ESPN’s Louis Riddick though, the Steelers know what they got rid of in Pickens, while Dallas doesn’t have a clue what it’s getting into.
“There comes a point in time when you just go, ‘Hey, look, the talent is not good enough at this point for me to continue to tolerate it,” Riddick said Wednesday on First Take of the Pickens trade from the Steelers’ perspective, according to video via ESPN. “Obviously Dallas is saying, ‘Hey, look man, we didn’t get the guy in the draft that we needed. There wasn’t someone there that we thought could make a difference’ or something of that nature, ‘so we have to make a move here.'”
There were rumors leading up to the draft that the Cowboys and the Steelers were talking a Pickens swap, but nothing materialized. That said, reports surfaced after the draft that the Steelers and Cowboys were talking a Pickens trade during the draft, too, though a move couldn’t be agreed upon.
Coming out of the draft with no receiver drafted, it seemed safe to assume that the Steelers would be holding onto Pickens going into the 2025 season. But that all changed Wednesday morning as the Cowboys gave into the third-round ask from the Steelers, landing Pickens via trade.
The move is a questionable one by the Steelers due to the timing of it. But they are moving off a player who has been a headache more often than not due to attitude and on-the-field antics, and trading Pickens allows them to continue to load up for the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh.
For Riddick, it makes sense for the Steelers. The Cowboys? He isn’t so sure.
“I don’t know if Dallas knows what they’re getting. I don’t know what they’re getting. Nobody knows how George is gonna react there, but Pittsburgh knows what they got rid of,” Riddick said. “And that is something that, if you’re Dallas, you better sit there and go, ‘ding, well, hmm.’ They’re the ones who now have brought it into their building and they’re gonna have to deal with it. So let’s see what happens.”
The fit in Dallas should be interesting with Pickens, who will be the No. 2 there behind CeeDee Lamb. He’ll be playing with the best quarterback of his career, too, in Dak Prescott, but he’ll be under even greater scrutiny due to the national spotlight and the overall attention the Cowboys generate every year.
That might be tough for a guy who still has to do a bit of maturing and growing up to do, all while playing for his next contract.
