George Pickens

[SteelerDayTrader]

This is all pipe-dream revisionist history.

On the Steelers, Pickens WOULD be sulking and fussing over lack of targets. Arthur Smith's offense is very #2 receiver unfriendly.

The solution to that is to get rid of the coaching staff that doesn’t value the modern NFL passing game, not the top 10 talent WR who just wants to catch some fucking passes.

[CKSteeler]

Implosion means his ass will be out of the league somewhere in his second contract.

Who cares???

He should have been retained if this team was really “all-in”.

If he pouts and causes problems in his co tract year you bench him and role CAIII or Wilson out there like you’ve been doing anyways

What happens to him during contract 2 is not our problem as we would t be giving him a new deal.

He is being a good soldier though this year because even idiot diva malcontent dipshits know to behave in their contract year.

Just like I said he would when we pulled off that dumb trade.

Look at us now, still like pulling teeth to love the ball and still searching for another WR.

But but but Arthur Smiff.

Their lack of involving a #2 is their own making and could easily be fixed.

I don't know what you're arguing because I said most of this in the post you are responding to, but also added that none of it really fucking matters given the reality of the situation.

Pickens, no Pickens. Draft pick, no draft pick. They aren't winning shit anyway.

I argued for keeping Pickens for the season and letting him walk before the trade. Saw some people arguing he was too similar to Metcalf and thought that was a dumb argument. You're going all in, you don't trade a guy that talented on his contract year.

But again...none of it fucking matters at the end of the day. It wouldn't have made any real difference.

[955876]

Implosion means his ass will be out of the league somewhere in his second contract.

Who cares???

He should have been retained if this team was really “all-in”.

If he pouts and causes problems in his co tract year you bench him and role CAIII or Wilson out there like you’ve been doing anyways

What happens to him during contract 2 is not our problem as we would t be giving him a new deal.

He is being a good soldier though this year because even idiot diva malcontent dipshits know to behave in their contract year.

Just like I said he would when we pulled off that dumb trade.

Look at us now, still like pulling teeth to love the ball and still searching for another WR.

But but but Arthur Smiff.

Their lack of involving a #2 is their own making and could easily be fixed.

VERY reminiscent of Santonio Holmes with the Jets in 2010. And we certainly could have used him during that Chinese fire drill of a final possession in the SB, down 6 points.

Nah. He was a cancer and had to go.

If only we had a “players coach” who could relate to these guys and know which buttons to push.

[955876]

Pickens, no Pickens. Draft pick, no draft pick. They aren't winning shit anyway.

Oh I fully get that.

This team has a recurring issue with being able to manage players.

I mean, look at the hoops we jump through to justify what was an asinine football decision on their part.

Derrrr we run a TE centric scheme. Only a team as fucked up as ours would twist themselves into pretzels to justify not needing a solid WR 2 because of some dumb offensive scheme they insist on that by golly, has them sucking yet again on offense.

31 other teams think a WR 2 ito be a pretty key component. Not us though. We gotta get Conner Heyward his snaps.

I’m not saying Pickens solves all our problems. I’m saying shit like this is yet another reason we are a stuck in the mud franchise not capable of winning shit with this current mentality.

[langer]

They can't manage The Jogger JT Watts, as soon as he signed the big contract he shut it down.

They re-signed a lumbering oaf TE who people like to cheer for but who doesn't play and when he does play he looks for contact rather than gaining yards. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Then they take forever to get Mt Washington on the field, half the season's gone.

It's a farce. They can't manage anything except stupid sayings that get on the Cheerleader's wife's t-shirts.

Expend minimal effort, hope to luck into failures by the other team and depend upon cheesy PR to fix things.

The team has had Roman Wilson on the squad, the guy can either play football or he can't. Nothing explains him sitting on his ass for so long.

Laziness does though. Coach T's delusional and privilegd punk offspring is a chip off the old block.

[Steeldrama]

Pickens, no Pickens. Draft pick, no draft pick. They aren't winning shit anyway.

^^^
This

[Stillerz Bar]

Multiple things can be true at the same time:

- Is Pickens ultra talented? Absolutely
- is he a dipshit who regularly does dumb things including taking needless penalties after big plays and TDs? Indeed
- Would he have had numbers even close to what he has now if he'd have remained on the Steelers? No chance, not even with a HOF QB.
- Would the Steelers have signed him to $100M contract? Unlikely, especially after signing DK
- Is the current Steelers offensive scheme terrible, especiallyfor WRs? Pretty much
- Is a 3rd round pick better than nothing? On the surface, yes, but given our drafting ability, who knows.

As several here have stated, not trading him would have made little if any difference for the Steelers. Whether that should be the case doesn't matter because it's true. Saying we should have changed coaches instead of trading him may be a reasonable opinion but that was never, NEVER going to happen.

On the other hand, the Cowboys have a nice toy with great numbers but still suck because they have an owner who traded away the most important piece on their D in a year he claimed to be all in simply because he felt like Parsons embarrassed him.

Bottom line, trading Pickens probably turned out as good as possible for the Steelers in the "Tomlin has a job for life" environment in which we live.

[TimmayLake]

Chase Claypool's out of the league.

Pittsburgh is death for WRs.

He wasn't very good to begin with and needed lots of coaching and guidance. Can't get that here.

Claypool wasn't very good at running and not falling down. Pickens has 10x the talent of Claypool.

[.Kodiak]

Keep in mind, Tomlin let that WR room become distraction diva central. Pickens was the last of the bad seeds that had to go to right the ship.

Talented or not, you don't win championships with guys like Pickens. You just don't. So the idea that he was a piece to "going all in" is just laughable.

[Gonzo]

i dont understand the argument that -- we ae not going to win anything so doesnt matter ... go ahead and get rid of him
the problem I have with it, is thats not how the decision was made, The Steelers think they are going to win - they thought they were making moves to win now. they signed metcalf for a huge amount.
they got rid of pickens because (my assumptions) they replaced him with metcalf who they viewed as a pro that will execute their plan. they did not want to deal with pickens and knew that in their system he would never get 100 catches and run a variety of routes. they brought in an old vet at QB who they thought would run their Plan and get rid of the ball quick, not take sacks and not throw INTs. And contrary to popular belief, i think rodgers knew this and was happy with it and will not complain later.

they decided after another playoff stomp that they needed vets to execute their Plan and shut their mouths -- do your job/do what your told

[Deebo]

Talented or not, you don't win championships with guys like Pickens. You just don't. So the idea that he was a piece to "going all in" is just laughable.

I get your stance, but there's nuance here.

It's true that you don't win with guys like Pickens unless you have a coach like Jimmy Johnson or Phil Jackson to manage this mental case. We obviously don't have that.

But it's an incongruent message from the organization that they are "all in" by them trading Pickens. Put aside the headcase that he is and you're shipping out a major talent for a measly 3rd round pick.
They imported all these other defensive vets on the defensive side to go "all in". I just think it's funny that again, Tomlin shows his preference on the defensive side of the ball.

Essentially: I'll take a headcase with talent as long as it's on defense. But I won't do the same on offense.

[955876]

Keep in mind, Tomlin let that WR room become distraction diva central. Pickens was the last of the bad seeds that had to go to right the ship.

Talented or not, you don't win championships with guys like Pickens. You just don't. So the idea that he was a piece to "going all in" is just laughable.

You don’t win championships with mediocre JAGS at key positions either.

[anpsteel]

I know the people that are upset about the George Pickens trade, are upset because the idea of having another receiver of his talent on the roster creates a significant improvement, theoretically


The challenge is George Pickens was never going to be that receiver on this team in this offense

We can dream all we want about wishes and fishes, but to think he would be anything other than a distraction and a problem is just fantasy

If he were on this team, he’d likely have less than 50 targets for the entire season year to date

That’s assuming he didn’t hold out or that he wasn’t suspended due to detrimental conduct

George Pickens wanted off this roster and he got it


What the Steelers got was a third round pick for the 2026 draft that will likely be 10 to 15 picks higher than any compensatory pick they might have received in 2027. (Assuming he left in free agency after this season)

The front office clearly wanted draft capital in 2026 and they got it

Is it the best use of a second round pick with immense talent? If that player was sane and wanted to be on the team? No.

But we aren’t talking about a player that is sane or a player that wanted to be on this team.

So at the end of the day, was it the right move? IMO, yes


Carry on

[LakecrestSteeler]

Talented or not, you don't win championships with guys like Pickens. You just don't. So the idea that he was a piece to "going all in" is just laughable.

Essentially: I'll take a headcase with talent as long as it's on defense. But I won't do the same on offense.

Times infinity.

Jalen Ramsey is as big a head case as Pickens. And JPJ is just as damaging as Pickens with penalties.

[955876]

George Pickens wanted off this roster and he got it

This is a recurring theme these days.

So much so even the fans now want off the roster as well.

Can we be traded too?

[Gonzo]

that is the core of this discussion
it was more a pickens decision then a steelers -- he wanted to leave and forced the matter (and from a purely personal financial standpoint - Pickens is/was right)
the steelers paid metcalf as a replacement as they value a big #1 WR -- they dont value #2 so much
and you cant pay everyone

[langer]

Talented or not, you don't win championships with guys like Pickens.

I think you can if you can keep him focused on a goal. Not easy.

There have been massive nutjobs in the NFL that have succeeded. Hockey, baseball.

The bigger problem is the idiots didnt replace him. Didnt have a plan post-Ben either.

[955876]

The bigger problem is…

That this will continue to be a thing every time we get talented offensive player we can’t keep involved due to our lame scheme.

Not all will be shitheads like Pickens but they’ll want out all the same once they realize playing in this O is career suicide.

[anpsteel]

George Pickens wanted off this roster and he got it

This is a recurring theme these days.

So much so even the fans now want off the roster as well.

Can we be traded too?

What kind of trade collateral are we receiving

Keg of Samuel Smiths nut brown ale?

or are we talking IC Lite

[anpsteel]

The bigger problem is…

That this will continue to be a thing every time we get talented offensive player we can’t keep involved due to our lame scheme.

Not all will be shitheads like Pickens but they’ll want out all the same once they realize playing in this O is career suicide.

100% agree

But until the mope at top steps down, or wakes up and cans the dope running the team, we’re effed

Tomlin wants to revert to 60s and 70s style football, while the rules completely favor a much different approach

[langer]

George Pickens wanted off this roster and he got it

This is a recurring theme these days.

So much so even the fans now want off the roster as well.

Can we be traded too?

What kind of trade collateral are we receiving

Keg of Samuel Smiths nut brown ale?

or are we talking IC Lite

I'll take a ice cold half barrel of Iron City with a couple pumpers of IC Light aht at a pavilion over South Park on a sunny Saturday afternoon.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRfH6ArdDRQ

[steelmann58]

Dk getting double team because we don’t have another quality Wr
Is killing this team

[Steelafan77]

I know this is par for the course with most players.

Think fraudlin would have handled it like Brian Schottenheimer?

NOVEMBER 20: Lamb revealed on Thursday (via Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News) that he and Pickens were disciplined for missing curfew the night before the game. The two were out late at Red Rock Casino Resort in Las Vegas on Sunday night
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2025/ ... ens-future

[955876]

Dk getting double team because we don’t have another quality Wr
Is killing this team

And our HC is too fucking pig headed to recognize nor fix it.

Meanwhile, his dipshit OC’s solution is to put Conner Heyward on the field.

We lose more games before kickoff than any team in the league.

[langer]

I know this is par for the course with most players.

Think fraudlin would have handled it like Brian Schottenheimer?

NOVEMBER 20: Lamb revealed on Thursday (via Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News) that he and Pickens were disciplined for missing curfew the night before the game. The two were out late at Red Rock Casino Resort in Las Vegas on Sunday night
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2025/ ... ens-future

Were they gambling on ping pong?

[anpsteel]

Dk getting double team because we don’t have another quality Wr
Is killing this team

And our HC is too fucking pig headed to recognize nor fix it.

Meanwhile, his dipshit OC’s solution is to put Conner Heyward on the field.

We lose more games before kickoff than any team in the league.

That's for sure

[anpsteel]

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/16Axvt ... tid=wwXIfr

[DumlinBumlinStumlin]

And his tardiness on team meetings has not changed

[CKSteeler]

Just going to throw this in here because it's pretty fucking funny to me.

This team was willing to shell out big money and draft assets to acquire Aiyuk from the 49ers. Not only did he suffer a significant injury, but then he's proven to be a complete mental case who has skipped meetings and basically cut his team off to the point where that massive contract he signed could be voided. And he's not even going to fight it.

Quality research right there at a time when they were already tired of a young diva WR's antics and having already lived through so many other WR related headaches in the past.

But when you're loading up for a Super Bowl run with a washed Russell Wilson and Justin Fields duo, I guess everything is on the table.

[955876]

Jibbs is like a moth to flame. Always enamored with the bright shiny object.

Knows he can’t build it so he desperately wants to import vets he doesn’t have to coach up.