Pittsburgh Steelers beat writer Gerry Dulac is pushing back on the notion QB Aaron Rodgers had a hand in WR George Pickens being traded more than a month before signing with the team. During a Thursday chat for the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, Dulac made clear those were two separate decisions.
“They always believed [Rodgers] would sign,” Dulac told one reader who asked. “But I don’t think one had anything to do with the other.”
The question stems from a recent ESPN article that mentioned why Pickens was dealt from Pittsburgh to the Dallas Cowboys.
“The Steelers moved on from Pickens for a few reasons. His maturity issues were well-known within Pittsburgh’s locker room and front office. So, the Steelers made the evaluation that Pickens and Rodgers probably would not hit it off.”
Some interpreted that as Rodgers “played a role” in the trade. Read without context, it implies Rodgers actively played kingmaker behind the scenes and pushed the front office to trade Pickens as, presumably, one condition to sign with the team.
But the ESPN article makes no claim or implies Rodgers had a direct role in the trade. Instead, it highlights the team making the logical assumption that Rodgers and Pickens’ Type A personalities would clash as one motivation to trade him. A key difference between the reports that quickly spread on Twitter versus the reality of the situation.
It doesn’t take an insider to understand George Pickens’ immaturity was well-documented and a potential issue for any veteran quarterback, especially one regarded as detailed and meticulous as Rodgers. Pittsburgh had other reasons to trade Pickens, too. His expiring contract, the realization he wasn’t going to get extended, and his overall negative locker room impact. Pickens might not have been a bad teammate but he wasn’t carrying himself like a professional, especially when it came to showing up on time.
The Internet can be a game of telephone. Especially in the offseason when news is dry and every outlet is angling for a story, one innocent comment of Rodgers and Pickens not being a great match turns into the implication Rodgers is controlling the Steelers’ front office. Not so. At least not in the case of Pickens as laid out by Dulac and anyone who read the original source.
