The move to trade fourth-year wide receiver George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys this offseason for a third-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft was a move that was deemed necessary by the Pittsburgh Steelers. They moved on from a young receiver that had been a real issue in the locker room and on the field, and gout out of potentially making a mistake with his next contract.
And yet, despite it being deemed a necessary move, one that simply had to happen because leaders in the locker room were reportedly done with him, it’s been hard to see the Georgia product dominating the NFL the way he is this season with the Cowboys.
Pickens has hauled in 67 passes for 1,054 yards and eight touchdowns. He has four 100-yard games on the season, and has emerged as a true All-Pro receiver. Meanwhile in Pittsburgh, the passing offense is largely a disaster. DK Metcalf hasn’t become the No. 1 the Steelers believed he was, Aaron Rodgers is getting rid of the ball very quickly, and the throw-short, run-long passing attack is struggling.
It’s tough to see for fans, who are frustrated watching Pickens ball out. It’s even tough for some players to see in the locker room, too.
That includes long snapper Christian Kuntz. On the latest episode of his podcast, Kuntz shared his thoughts on Pickens and what he’s doing in Dallas, including his comments on Pickens’ Players’ Tribune article in which he admitted he was immature in Pittsburgh and could have been better.
“It’s tough to watch and that sucks to hear,” Kuntz said of Pickens and him admitting he was immature in Pittsburgh, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “It’s like, ‘Damn, dude. We wish [you could have done that here]. But George is a hell of a player, dude. Like, he’s one of the best receivers in the world.
“It just is what it is.”
That’s a good way for a current player to summarize things when it comes to Pickens no longer being in Pittsburgh and having a career year elsewhere. It just is what it is.
The Steelers did everything they could in Pickens’ first three years to keep him in line. Granted, the offensive scheme didn’t put him in the best positions to be that true game-breaker that he is now in Dallas. But Pickens was immature, and largely got in his own way.
He was reportedly showing up late to practices and games. He’d have incidents on the sidelines with frustrations about not getting the ball and not getting opportunities to make plays. In games, he’d also take selfish penalties, including that game in Cincinnati in 2024 in which he took multiple unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for taunting, leading to head coach Mike Tomlin stating after the game that the young receiver needed to grow up.
Ultimately, he never did in Pittsburgh. That’s something he now owns. Growth isn’t linear, and it happens on a different timeline for everyone. He’s in a good spot now and is playing some great football.
That doesn’t make it any less painful to see though, especially after the Steelers invested so much time and energy into him, from the pre-draft process ahead of the 2022 NFL Draft, to right before they traded him.
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