The Pittsburgh Steelers’ George Pickens is a topic of conversation after Pittsburgh agreed to trade for DK Metcalf. While there was already speculation that they could deal the former second-round pick, the addition of a legitimate No. 1 gives them greater flexibility. Still, a trade might be harder to make—simply because of the Steelers’ history of previous trades.
“If Mike Tomlin gives up on a player, only someone delusional would take a chance on that player”, Aditi Kinkhabwala wrote on X on Monday about the Steelers potentially trade of George Pickens. “Talked to an exec today who said after the Chase Claypool fleecing, he thinks everyone gets that”.
She added, “There is NOT a George Pickens trade windfall” for any team that deals with the Steelers. Of course, that’s in the eye of the beholder, and if a team sees Pickens’ talent, the Steelers could deal him. And nobody denies the talent that Pickens has. And there are always teams who believe they can get more out of a player than his previous team.
George Pickens has not benefited greatly from the Steelers on the field, it’s fair to say. He has weathered not only poor quarterback play, but poor offensive play-calling and scheming through most of his career. While they upgraded in those areas last year, there is clearly untapped potential remaining.
And it’s fair to question how committed Pickens can be if he believes the Steelers can’t maximize his talents. He is an emotional player, and clearly believes he is capable of doing more than they offer. You don’t write on your eye black that you’re always open unless you’re trying to make a point.
But when you weigh that up against history, it’s hard to ignore. Even if you accept that George Pickens is very talented, it would still be the Steelers dumping him. And they may only deal him for a high price, as they did with Martavis Bryant and Chase Claypool, but that only raises the caution flag higher. Because teams thought at the time that Bryant and Claypool were immoveable—and then they moved.
The Steelers’ acquisition of DK Metcalf perhaps should make teams pause even more about George Pickens. Now they have no urgency to move because they have their top receiver. There is no rush to move Pickens, or indeed move him at all. After all, he could potentially earn them a third-round compensatory pick in 2027, so why settle for a third-round pick now when you can get another season’s worth of play out of him?
To the best of my knowledge, this comment from Kinkhabwala is the first public acknowledgement that the Steelers have a reputation around the league because of previous deals like Chase Claypool. As a refresher, the Bears traded the Steelers their 2023 second-round pick for Claypool in 2022. They already knew they would have a high pick, but it ended up being the top pick in the round.
The Steelers ended up using the draft pick from the Chase Claypool trade to select CJ Joey Porter Jr. 33rd overall. Since then, Claypool has already bounced around to two other teams. The Bears traded him to the Dolphins less than a year later for a late-round pick swap. They didn’t bother re-signing him, eventually joining the Bills. He was waived injured in August and never signed with another team, without a contract for the 2024 season.
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