The Pittsburgh Steelers have a history of trading away apparent star wide receivers. George Pickens to Dallas was just the latest example.
Pittsburgh is almost always proven right in doing so.
On Thursday night, Pickens may have finally shown why the Steelers unloaded him during the spring.
He seemed disinterested in running routes. He also seemed angry at times.
Pickens (lack of) effort on Thursday is perfectly shown in this compilation:
That isn’t the look you want to see from arguably the best receiver on your team. Especially after CeeDee Lamb goes down with a concussion.
A Solid Start
Pickens has had four 100+-yard games this year. Dallas is 2-1-1 in those games. His first game of the season, against the Eagles, was his worst yardage wise.
He had 30 yards on three catches with four targets.
But Pickens hadn’t had a game with fewer than 57 yards since.
Until Thursday night. He finished with 37 yards on five catches with nine targets. He also had a ball clang off his hands for an interception to set up a Lions touchdown.
Pickens was coming off a solid three-game run.
He had 144 yards and a score against the Raiders, 146 yards and a score against the Eagles, and 88 yards against the Chiefs.
Dallas won all three games. And this followed by he and Lamb getting benched for the opening series in Vegas for disciplinary reasons.
So it seems odd that Pickens would wait three games to start pouting about that.
Clearly, something else is at play.
That just may be Pickens’ past. And why Pittsburgh cut him loose, along with a 2027 sixth round pick for a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick back in May.
Pickens was a head case waiting to implode.
It may have finally done so on Thursday night.
Making Dallas’ decision not to immediately extend him look so much better today. Even though he has 78 catches for 1,179 yards and eight touchdowns in 13 games, all career highs already, this year.
Steelers Ain’t Playing
Pickens averaged 73 catches, 947 yards, and four touchdowns a year during his three-year run with the Steelers.
You would think a 1-2 combo of Pickens and D.J. Metcalf for Aaron Rodgers to throw too would have the Steelers front office in nirvana.
But they still cut him loose. Perhaps they saw the early signs and unloaded him before the implosion hit.
The Cowboys delayed the inevitable for 12 games.
Until the inevitable blew up in their faces in Detroit.
Pickens joins a list of receivers drafted by Pittsburgh and shipped out before the timer ran out on the bomb. The top three should be familiar names.
Santonio Holmes, Juju Smith-Schuster, and the cherry on top of the sundae, Antonio Brown. Brown was last seen exiting an NFL field while doing a striptease act.
One And Done
Thursday night’s performance should put an end to the calls to extend Pickens after this year.
They got 12 solid games out of him.
Ryan Flournoy has been looking better with each week. His inability to secure that last pass on Thursday does not cancel out his overall performance lately.
Plus, Flournoy has a cheaper contract and a lot more upside.
He’s also less likely to implode anytime soon.
Pickens should be a one and done in 2025. He can take his circus act somewhere else in 2026.
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