While Pittsburgh’s rookies hit the practice field this weekend, the team’s returning players are still soaking in the news of the Steelers’ biggest story of the week. Trading wide receiver George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys. [In his latest vlog,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpI3R7smLIc) cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. and inside linebacker Payton Wilson shared a brief discussion reacting to the trade.
Like Pickens himself, Bishop says he heard the news when it was tweeted out early Wednesday morning.
“I was on my way to the facility and I had just checked my phone and it’s like, breaking news, Pittsburgh’s trading George Pickens,” Bishop told Wilson in a clip of his episode shared on the Prospect Media Instagram page.
Bishop, Wilson, and Pickens were teammates for just one season, the former two rookies who joined Pittsburgh in 2024. Still, they got a close look at Pickens’ best and worst moments. The highlight reel grabs, the unreal body control, the playmaking. Along with the short temper and reported bad work habits on and off the field.
On paper, subtracting Pickens hurts the Steelers’ offense. Wilson understands the long lens the brass is making the move through.
“The front office isn’t just making moves for this year,” Wilson told Bishop. “That’s what I had to learn. They’re really trying to stack year on top of year on top of year. Obviously us being in it, we want to win a Super Bowl every single year. But it’s probably a little different for the front office. They make this trade, ‘okay, we can set up for this pick this year, this pick this year.’ And obviously, I have no clue what I’m talking about. But that’s just the way I look at it.”
It’s a fair assessment. [Omar Khan admitted adding 2026 selections,](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/05/omar-khan-stresses-importance-of-stacking-2026-draft-picks/) be it through trades or the expected compensatory batch, is on the team’s mind. Pittsburgh wasn’t going to re-sign Pickens and acquired a guaranteed selection for next year’s draft instead of a possible pick in 2027, one that could be reduced or cancelled for a variety of reasons.
In the short clip, Bishop nor Wilson seemed overjoyed or saddened to see Pickens go. Both, especially Wilson, viewed it as a business decision. And Wilson offered the best prospective possible.
“Where I’m at, I play ball. I try to do my job.”
It’s an early reminder to a pair of second-year players how quickly plans can change. Teammate today, gone tomorrow.
No matter who is on roster, the best thing Bishop, Wilson, and the rest of the team can focus on is their job. Like it or not, Pickens is no longer in Pittsburgh. It’s next-man-up and a strong Steelers’ defense will help mitigate any loss in offensive firepower.
The entire vlog is below but as of Sunday afternoon, the bulk of the conversation between the two has no audio.