The Pittsburgh Steelers shocked a lot of people who woke up Wednesday morning to learn that George Pickens had just been traded to the Dallas Cowboys.
Moving Pickens isn’t necessarily a surprising move itself. His name came up in trade rumors throughout the NFL Draft. However, trading him a few weeks after the draft feels like strange timing. Kyle Brandt shares that confusion, which he expressed on Good Morning Football on Wednesday.
“This leads us to the question of, where are you headed?” Brandt asked. “What is the plan? Where are we gonna end up Week 1 in September?”
After declining to trade Pickens during the draft, it looked like the Steelers would roll into the season with both Pickens and Metcalf on the outside. That would have formed an excellent receiving duo, arguably the best the Steelers have seen in several years. Having both on the field at the same time would have made things much easier for Calvin Austin and Roman Wilson as well, who Pittsburgh now needs to have a big year.
However, a move like this goes beyond impacting just the other receivers on the roster. It could have helped the Steelers open up their run game as well. Arthur Smith is always going to prioritize the rushing attack. Having two deep threats in Metcalf and Pickens simultaneously would have kept defenses with two high safeties more often, which leads to fewer defenders near the line of scrimmage on running downs.
No matter who plays quarterback in 2025, Brandt argues that keeping George Pickens would have helped them.
“If your plan is with Rodgers, then you just severed a huge piece of talent, with which to carry a 41-year-old quarterback who’s gonna need it,” Brandt said. “If your plan is not Rodgers, and it’s some, holy crap we’re actually going with Mason Rudolph… Then you need as much talent to carry him. So I don’t know what the plan is.”
If Rodgers signs, he likely would have known that a Pickens trade was coming. However, the argument can certainly be made that he’s better off with Pickens still in the building. Maybe the two wouldn’t gel exceptionally well together, but Rodgers isn’t at a point in his career where he’s going to elevate the whole offense around him. He’d need a good supporting cast to have success. Pittsburgh still has weapons to give him, but their arsenal takes a dent with this trade.
That argument is even more important if Mason Rudolph ends up starting, as Brandt alludes to, especially considering Rudolph and Pickens are fond of each other. The Steelers can be confident in Rudolph all they want, but they aren’t doing him any favors with this move if he ends up taking meaningful snaps for Pittsburgh in 2025.
Despite not understanding their motive, Brandt stated that he’s not all the way out on the Steelers.
“I will never abandon them,” Brandt said of the Steelers. “They don’t do filler seasons, they don’t do 6-11 seasons. They will find their way to 10-7, they will find their way to 9-8, you know it and I know it.”
Brandt is right that the Steelers aren’t going to fall off the map this year. But is another 10-7 season really the goal? If it’s not, then the George Pickens trade doesn’t make a ton of sense, this year at least. The Steelers are loading up on picks for the 2026 draft, but spending another year in football purgatory could be in the future.
