George Pickens…

[Still Diesel]

The bottom line is we are a completely different team with him playing. He keeps defenses honest loading up against the run and our other receivers find openings when coverage is rolled towards him. I know I’m stating the obvio, but my question is when do you think he pkk on says his next game??

[langer]

I thought he was to be driven out of town for being a bad team-mate who wasn't worth the trouble, but now he's the savior and the most important player on the team.

That's a dangerous place for the Steelers to be in, considering he might still do something really stupid and get suspended.

I hope he plays next week.

[jebrick]

I wonder if the Steelers make a serious play for Tee Higgens and let GP go via FA

[alancac98]

I wonder if the Steelers make a serious play for Tee Higgens and let GP go via FA

From what I see, Higgins is a really good receiver but is benefitting hugely by Chase being WR1. Would Higgins be equally good if he was in place of George- with really no other top notch WR on the team? I don't know! So, if you let George walk and sign Higgins without going out and getting a WR2, are you really making the team any better? Maybe you get rid of some antics from George, but I think George will easily surpass Higgins in quality of play - he will be a beast! I think the Steelers should get a WR in the 1st round of the draft to compliment George and this team will be fine with the rest of what we have.

[jebrick]

I wonder if the Steelers make a serious play for Tee Higgens and let GP go via FA

From what I see, Higgins is a really good receiver but is benefitting hugely by Chase being WR1. Would Higgins be equally good if he was in place of George- with really no other top notch WR on the team? I don't know! So, if you let George walk and sign Higgins without going out and getting a WR2, are you really making the team any better? Maybe you get rid of some antics from George, but I think George will easily surpass Higgins in quality of play - he will be a beast! I think the Steelers should get a WR in the 1st round of the draft to compliment George and this team will be fine with the rest of what we have.

You could sign Slayton as the #2

[Ice]

Imagine how PTSD'd you are from 2.5 years of Kenny Pickett as a fan.

Now imagine if your professional career had been tied to it. If we can get GP to stay, great, but I certainly wouldn't blame him for wanting out.

[CzechSteeler]

The bottom line is we are a completely different team with him playing. He keeps defenses honest loading up against the run and our other receivers find openings when coverage is rolled towards him. I know I’m stating the obvio, but my question is when do you think he pkk on says his next game??

Against Chiefs. Grade 2 hamstring tear is 3 games off.

[K_C_]

Pickens is a unique, superstar level talent and right now, he's irreplaceable.

.....but I'm not sure you can give him 30 + million per year.

That's why the Steelers are going to spend either a first or second round choice (I think there's a real chance the Steelers move up in the first round) for a WR to, at first, compliment Pickens and very possibly, in one year, replace him.

It depends on how much the front office believes Pickens can walk the straight and narrow and be a positive force in the locker room.

Pickens is a far better player than Diontae Johnson could ever dream of being, but I hope Ol' George is keeping watch on just how well things are working out for Diontae since his exit from Pittsburgh.

Dude might be out of the league as soon as next season.

Be careful, GP. Shit can go south in a hurry.

[tbsteel]

If he's not healthy enough to play this weekend, do we think he'll be ready on Wednesday against the Chiefs? Probably not.

And then at that point, you have one game remaining and a playoff spot already secured. Do you risk bringing him back against the Bengals and a chance of re-aggravating the hamstring injury, or do you hold him out another week so he's good to go for the playoffs?

Might not see George until Wildcard Weekend.

[Deebo]

I wonder if the Steelers make a serious play for Tee Higgens and let GP go via FA

From what I see, Higgins is a really good receiver but is benefitting hugely by Chase being WR1. Would Higgins be equally good if he was in place of George- with really no other top notch WR on the team? I don't know! So, if you let George walk and sign Higgins without going out and getting a WR2, are you really making the team any better? Maybe you get rid of some antics from George, but I think George will easily surpass Higgins in quality of play - he will be a beast! I think the Steelers should get a WR in the 1st round of the draft to compliment George and this team will be fine with the rest of what we have.

Tee Higgins is an amazing WR.

This isn't some Alvin Harper situation. For those too young, Harper was opposite Michael Irving and had some decent stats due to always being left 1 on 1

[jebrick]

Pickens is a unique, superstar level talent and right now, he's irreplaceable.

.....but I'm not sure you can give him 30 + million per year.

That's why the Steelers are going to spend either a first or second round choice (I think there's a real chance the Steelers move up in the first round) for a WR to, at first, compliment Pickens and very possibly, in one year, replace him.

It depends on how much the front office believes Pickens can walk the straight and narrow and be a positive force in the locker room.

Pickens is a far better player than Diontae Johnson could ever dream of being, but I hope Ol' George is keeping watch on just how well things are working out for Diontae since his exit from Pittsburgh.

Dude might be out of the league as soon as next season.

Be careful, GP. Shit can go south in a hurry.

This is why I threw out Tee Higgens. Some team will spend 25-30M on him. Otherwise, they could toss money at Hopkins or Cooper or Godwin.

[Mick]

Pickens is worth $30M talent wise. If coaches think they can handle him, give him the money. Alternative to get a special player is to trade a 1st round pick and also give the guy a $30M contract.

Bears fans complaining about their WRs after last weekend, and i look and no question our #1 WR last weekend would be #4 on their depth chart.

[StillerInCT]

If it's me, I'm giving GP market value to secure his 2nd contract. We're in a nice spot where we can spend a little extra given we don't have a QB on a big contract. But we'll need to draft one eventually. Might as well give him a premier WR from day 1.

[bradshaw2ben]

If he's not healthy enough to play this weekend, do we think he'll be ready on Wednesday against the Chiefs? Probably not.

And then at that point, you have one game remaining and a playoff spot already secured. Do you risk bringing him back against the Bengals and a chance of re-aggravating the hamstring injury, or do you hold him out another week so he's good to go for the playoffs?

Might not see George until Wildcard Weekend.

Hard to get on a moving train with a bad hammy.

[bradshaw2ben]

If it's me, I'm giving GP market value to secure his 2nd contract. We're in a nice spot where we can spend a little extra given we don't have a QB on a big contract. But we'll need to draft one eventually. Might as well give him a premier WR from day 1.

We're about to have a QB on a massive contract.

[W&M_Steeler]

If he's not healthy enough to play this weekend, do we think he'll be ready on Wednesday against the Chiefs? Probably not.

And then at that point, you have one game remaining and a playoff spot already secured. Do you risk bringing him back against the Bengals and a chance of re-aggravating the hamstring injury, or do you hold him out another week so he's good to go for the playoffs?

Might not see George until Wildcard Weekend.

That's my bet. Maybe if the Steelers and Bengals both have something to play for Week 18 he might be out there, but otherwise I don't think he plays until the playoffs if he has a grade 2 hammy tear.

[Mick]

If it's me, I'm giving GP market value to secure his 2nd contract. We're in a nice spot where we can spend a little extra given we don't have a QB on a big contract. But we'll need to draft one eventually. Might as well give him a premier WR from day 1.

We're about to have a QB on a massive contract.

if the choice is* between the vikings approach of assembling a quality roster and tossing a qb behind it or the browns/jets approach of selling the farm to bring in a top tier qb and hope that solves all your roster/coaching staff issues, im about a billion percent in favor of the vikings strategy.

*it always is.

[K_C_]

Pickens is worth $30M talent wise. If coaches think they can handle him, give him the money. Alternative to get a special player is to trade a 1st round pick and also give the guy a $30M contract.

Bears fans complaining about their WRs after last weekend, and i look and no question our #1 WR last weekend would be #4 on their depth chart.

If you think George Pickens, with what he's shown so far in his career, would be #4 on the Bears depth chart, I would say you need professional help.

The only Bears receiver who is arguably better than Pickens is DJ Moore and he's already been traded once. If the Bears were offered Pickens straight up for Moore, they'd most definitely consider it.

Pickens has top 5 WR talent...in the entire league.

He might have a 10 cent head, but talent wise, the guy is unbelievable.

[K_C_]

If it's me, I'm giving GP market value to secure his 2nd contract. We're in a nice spot where we can spend a little extra given we don't have a QB on a big contract. But we'll need to draft one eventually. Might as well give him a premier WR from day 1.

We're about to have a QB on a massive contract.

There is a lot of football to be played and let's see how Russ finishes before we have him breaking the bank, as a soon to be 37 year old QB in Pittsburgh.

Russ has played, overall pretty fantastic but I wouldn't mark him down for some Josh Allen sort of deal quite yet.

As I've said many times, Russ isn't playing for money anymore. Dude is playing for his legacy and is already a very rich man. Russ's last "massive contract" came from Denver. He isn't getting another ridiculous, guaranteed money-filled deal. It just isn't going to happen at his age and if the Steelers limp to the finish line this year and are a one-and-done in the playoffs, which is entirely possible with the injury bug starting to hit us weekly, the Steelers are not backing up a brinks truck for Russ.

Most importantly, Russ knows better than anybody on the planet that the grass sure as fuck ain't greener on the other side. Need proof? Talk to elite separator Diontae Johnson. He'll tell you all about it.

Russ and the Steelers are going to come to a team friendly deal after this season IF (and that's a big if) his quality play continues.

[Gonzo]

If it's me, I'm giving GP market value to secure his 2nd contract. We're in a nice spot where we can spend a little extra given we don't have a QB on a big contract. But we'll need to draft one eventually. Might as well give him a premier WR from day 1.

We're about to have a QB on a massive contract.

I am going to be sick

[StillerDownSouth]

If it's me, I'm giving GP market value to secure his 2nd contract. We're in a nice spot where we can spend a little extra given we don't have a QB on a big contract. But we'll need to draft one eventually. Might as well give him a premier WR from day 1.

We're about to have a QB on a massive contract.

There is a lot of football to be played and let's see how Russ finishes before we have him breaking the bank, as a soon to be 37 year old QB in Pittsburgh.

Russ has played, overall pretty fantastic but I wouldn't mark him down for some Josh Allen sort of deal quite yet.

As I've said many times, Russ isn't playing for money anymore. Dude is playing for his legacy and is already a very rich man. Russ's last "massive contract" came from Denver. He isn't getting another ridiculous, guaranteed money-filled deal. It just isn't going to happen at his age and if the Steelers limp to the finish line this year and are a one-and-done in the playoffs, which is entirely possible with the injury bug starting to hit us weekly, the Steelers are not backing up a brinks truck for Russ.

Most importantly, Russ knows better than anybody on the planet that the grass sure as fuck ain't greener on the other side. Need proof? Talk to elite separator Diontae Johnson. He'll tell you all about it.

Russ and the Steelers are going to come to a team friendly deal after this season IF (and that's a big if) his quality play continues.

I’m with KC on this, I do think they will end up signing Russ to a 3 year deal that will be very team friendly, I don’t think there will be many teams lining up to ink a 37 year old QB to big money. Someone will sign Sam Darnold, Kirk Cousins is likely to be available via trade now that Penix is starting, also their will be a lot of former high draft pick young QB’s that will be available - Mac Jones, Daniel Jones, Justin Fields and Zach Wilson, so there’s going to be a lot of guys on the market.

[tbsteel]

Pickens is worth $30M talent wise. If coaches think they can handle him, give him the money. Alternative to get a special player is to trade a 1st round pick and also give the guy a $30M contract.

Bears fans complaining about their WRs after last weekend, and i look and no question our #1 WR last weekend would be #4 on their depth chart.

If you think George Pickens, with what he's shown so far in his career, would be #4 on the Bears depth chart, I would say you need professional help.

The only Bears receiver who is arguably better than Pickens is DJ Moore and he's already been traded once. If the Bears were offered Pickens straight up for Moore, they'd most definitely consider it.

Pickens has top 5 WR talent...in the entire league.

He might have a 10 cent head, but talent wise, the guy is unbelievable.

I believe he was saying our #1 WR --last weekend-- which was Van Jefferson or CAIII.

Our group without Pickens is easily the worst unit in the NFL IMO. Too many dudes who can't just get open.

[Deebo]

Pickens is worth $30M talent wise. If coaches think they can handle him, give him the money. Alternative to get a special player is to trade a 1st round pick and also give the guy a $30M contract.

Bears fans complaining about their WRs after last weekend, and i look and no question our #1 WR last weekend would be #4 on their depth chart.

If you think George Pickens, with what he's shown so far in his career, would be #4 on the Bears depth chart, I would say you need professional help.

The only Bears receiver who is arguably better than Pickens is DJ Moore and he's already been traded once. If the Bears were offered Pickens straight up for Moore, they'd most definitely consider it.

Pickens has top 5 WR talent...in the entire league.

He might have a 10 cent head, but talent wise, the guy is unbelievable.

I believe he was saying our #1 WR --last weekend-- which was Van Jefferson or CAIII.

Our group without Pickens is easily the worst unit in the NFL IMO. Too many dudes who can't just get open.

Art Smith can't be blamed for not having Pickens available

What he CAN be blamed for was the idiotic start to the season where Pickens was getting about 2/3 of the reps that Van Jefferson was getting.
Why the fuck you'd take your 1 and only playmaker off the field is beyond me.

[K_C_]

Pickens is worth $30M talent wise. If coaches think they can handle him, give him the money. Alternative to get a special player is to trade a 1st round pick and also give the guy a $30M contract.

Bears fans complaining about their WRs after last weekend, and i look and no question our #1 WR last weekend would be #4 on their depth chart.

If you think George Pickens, with what he's shown so far in his career, would be #4 on the Bears depth chart, I would say you need professional help.

The only Bears receiver who is arguably better than Pickens is DJ Moore and he's already been traded once. If the Bears were offered Pickens straight up for Moore, they'd most definitely consider it.

Pickens has top 5 WR talent...in the entire league.

He might have a 10 cent head, but talent wise, the guy is unbelievable.

I believe he was saying our #1 WR --last weekend-- which was Van Jefferson or CAIII.

Our group without Pickens is easily the worst unit in the NFL IMO. Too many dudes who can't just get open.

Ah okay, if that’s what dude meant then he’s spot on.

[bradshaw2ben]

If it's me, I'm giving GP market value to secure his 2nd contract. We're in a nice spot where we can spend a little extra given we don't have a QB on a big contract. But we'll need to draft one eventually. Might as well give him a premier WR from day 1.

We're about to have a QB on a massive contract.

if the choice is* between the vikings approach of assembling a quality roster and tossing a qb behind it or the browns/jets approach of selling the farm to bring in a top tier qb and hope that solves all your roster/coaching staff issues, im about a billion percent in favor of the vikings strategy.

*it always is.

I hear you. But they are much too concerned with making the playoffs (if only to get smoked) to ever get in a position to move up enough for a QB. So, re-signing Wilson at $50M per is much, much more likely.

I mean, maybe a full on collapse like losing out the rest of the way would put them around pick 29 or 20, which would only get them to QB3 in this class without trading major assets and future #1s.

[bradshaw2ben]

If it's me, I'm giving GP market value to secure his 2nd contract. We're in a nice spot where we can spend a little extra given we don't have a QB on a big contract. But we'll need to draft one eventually. Might as well give him a premier WR from day 1.

We're about to have a QB on a massive contract.

There is a lot of football to be played and let's see how Russ finishes before we have him breaking the bank, as a soon to be 37 year old QB in Pittsburgh.

Russ has played, overall pretty fantastic but I wouldn't mark him down for some Josh Allen sort of deal quite yet.

As I've said many times, Russ isn't playing for money anymore. Dude is playing for his legacy and is already a very rich man. Russ's last "massive contract" came from Denver. He isn't getting another ridiculous, guaranteed money-filled deal. It just isn't going to happen at his age and if the Steelers limp to the finish line this year and are a one-and-done in the playoffs, which is entirely possible with the injury bug starting to hit us weekly, the Steelers are not backing up a brinks truck for Russ.

Most importantly, Russ knows better than anybody on the planet that the grass sure as fuck ain't greener on the other side. Need proof? Talk to elite separator Diontae Johnson. He'll tell you all about it.

Russ and the Steelers are going to come to a team friendly deal after this season IF (and that's a big if) his quality play continues.

He's not getting a Josh Allen kind of deal, he's just getting better than a Daniel Jones deal and somewhere around a "working-with-the-team" Aaron Rodgers deal. That's north of $45M/per. The alternatives are:

1. re-sign Justin Fields for $40M/per (minimum somehwat below average starter money)
2. trade multiple #1s and an asset like George Pickens to move up to top 3 in the draft for Ward or Sanders
3. roll the dice later on one of the lesser QBs in the class and hope you hit it big
4. trade a 2nd-4th for a young QB his team doesn't want any more Lawrence, Bryce, Levis)
5. sign Kirk Cousins to a league minimum contract, once he ends up in the same situation Wilson is this year

I don't know about you, but re-signing Russ at $45M+ seems like the most likely and perhaps least vile choice

[bradshaw2ben]

We're about to have a QB on a massive contract.

There is a lot of football to be played and let's see how Russ finishes before we have him breaking the bank, as a soon to be 37 year old QB in Pittsburgh.

Russ has played, overall pretty fantastic but I wouldn't mark him down for some Josh Allen sort of deal quite yet.

As I've said many times, Russ isn't playing for money anymore. Dude is playing for his legacy and is already a very rich man. Russ's last "massive contract" came from Denver. He isn't getting another ridiculous, guaranteed money-filled deal. It just isn't going to happen at his age and if the Steelers limp to the finish line this year and are a one-and-done in the playoffs, which is entirely possible with the injury bug starting to hit us weekly, the Steelers are not backing up a brinks truck for Russ.

Most importantly, Russ knows better than anybody on the planet that the grass sure as fuck ain't greener on the other side. Need proof? Talk to elite separator Diontae Johnson. He'll tell you all about it.

Russ and the Steelers are going to come to a team friendly deal after this season IF (and that's a big if) his quality play continues.

I’m with KC on this, I do think they will end up signing Russ to a 3 year deal that will be very team friendly, I don’t think there will be many teams lining up to ink a 37 year old QB to big money. Someone will sign Sam Darnold, Kirk Cousins is likely to be available via trade now that Penix is starting, also their will be a lot of former high draft pick young QB’s that will be available - Mac Jones, Daniel Jones, Justin Fields and Zach Wilson, so there’s going to be a lot of guys on the market.

Just look at that list of names and then repeat what you said about there not being much demand for Wilson!

Cousins has a firm no trade clause, so if they want to ditch him, they will both pay and release him (just like Denver with Wilson). Darnold to PIT would make some sense, but IMO that's a steep downgrade once you pair Sam with Art and MT.

And let's remember that team-friendly deal is what Aaron Rodgers got with the Jets.

[SteelerDayTrader]

We're about to have a QB on a massive contract.

There is a lot of football to be played and let's see how Russ finishes before we have him breaking the bank, as a soon to be 37 year old QB in Pittsburgh.

Russ has played, overall pretty fantastic but I wouldn't mark him down for some Josh Allen sort of deal quite yet.

As I've said many times, Russ isn't playing for money anymore. Dude is playing for his legacy and is already a very rich man. Russ's last "massive contract" came from Denver. He isn't getting another ridiculous, guaranteed money-filled deal. It just isn't going to happen at his age and if the Steelers limp to the finish line this year and are a one-and-done in the playoffs, which is entirely possible with the injury bug starting to hit us weekly, the Steelers are not backing up a brinks truck for Russ.

Most importantly, Russ knows better than anybody on the planet that the grass sure as fuck ain't greener on the other side. Need proof? Talk to elite separator Diontae Johnson. He'll tell you all about it.

Russ and the Steelers are going to come to a team friendly deal after this season IF (and that's a big if) his quality play continues.

He's not getting a Josh Allen kind of deal, he's just getting better than a Daniel Jones deal and somewhere around a "working-with-the-team" Aaron Rodgers deal. That's north of $45M/per. The alternatives are:

1. re-sign Justin Fields for $40M/per (minimum somehwat below average starter money)
2. trade multiple #1s and an asset like George Pickens to move up to top 3 in the draft for Ward or Sanders
3. roll the dice later on one of the lesser QBs in the class and hope you hit it big
4. trade a 2nd-4th for a young QB his team doesn't want any more Lawrence, Bryce, Levis)
5. sign Kirk Cousins to a league minimum contract, once he ends up in the same situation Wilson is this year

I don't know about you, but re-signing Russ at $45M+ seems like the most likely and perhaps least vile choice

Or………

[bradshaw2ben]

There is a lot of football to be played and let's see how Russ finishes before we have him breaking the bank, as a soon to be 37 year old QB in Pittsburgh.

Russ has played, overall pretty fantastic but I wouldn't mark him down for some Josh Allen sort of deal quite yet.

As I've said many times, Russ isn't playing for money anymore. Dude is playing for his legacy and is already a very rich man. Russ's last "massive contract" came from Denver. He isn't getting another ridiculous, guaranteed money-filled deal. It just isn't going to happen at his age and if the Steelers limp to the finish line this year and are a one-and-done in the playoffs, which is entirely possible with the injury bug starting to hit us weekly, the Steelers are not backing up a brinks truck for Russ.

Most importantly, Russ knows better than anybody on the planet that the grass sure as fuck ain't greener on the other side. Need proof? Talk to elite separator Diontae Johnson. He'll tell you all about it.

Russ and the Steelers are going to come to a team friendly deal after this season IF (and that's a big if) his quality play continues.

He's not getting a Josh Allen kind of deal, he's just getting better than a Daniel Jones deal and somewhere around a "working-with-the-team" Aaron Rodgers deal. That's north of $45M/per. The alternatives are:

1. re-sign Justin Fields for $40M/per (minimum somehwat below average starter money)
2. trade multiple #1s and an asset like George Pickens to move up to top 3 in the draft for Ward or Sanders
3. roll the dice later on one of the lesser QBs in the class and hope you hit it big
4. trade a 2nd-4th for a young QB his team doesn't want any more Lawrence, Bryce, Levis)
5. sign Kirk Cousins to a league minimum contract, once he ends up in the same situation Wilson is this year

I don't know about you, but re-signing Russ at $45M+ seems like the most likely and perhaps least vile choice

Or………

Sam Darnold or DJ Ungaleiei

[SteelerDayTrader]

He's not getting a Josh Allen kind of deal, he's just getting better than a Daniel Jones deal and somewhere around a "working-with-the-team" Aaron Rodgers deal. That's north of $45M/per. The alternatives are:

1. re-sign Justin Fields for $40M/per (minimum somehwat below average starter money)
2. trade multiple #1s and an asset like George Pickens to move up to top 3 in the draft for Ward or Sanders
3. roll the dice later on one of the lesser QBs in the class and hope you hit it big
4. trade a 2nd-4th for a young QB his team doesn't want any more Lawrence, Bryce, Levis)
5. sign Kirk Cousins to a league minimum contract, once he ends up in the same situation Wilson is this year

I don't know about you, but re-signing Russ at $45M+ seems like the most likely and perhaps least vile choice

Or………

Sam Darnold or DJ Ungaleiei

Not the response I was anticipating lol