The Pittsburgh Steelers look to be going all-in this season. They brought in four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers at quarterback and traded for star wideout DK Metcalf to compliment their new-look offense.
But arguably the biggest step in that approach to the upcoming campaign appeared to be kicked off with the swap that sent the Steelers' original WR1, George Pickens, to the Dallas Cowboys. And that decision was made a lot earlier than anyone ever knew, according to NFL insider Adam Caplan.
"[The Steelers] made a decision, at the end of the 2024 season, that they knew were not going to extend George Pickens' contract," he told FOX Sports Radio on Sunday. "There was no way this would work with Pickens, they felt, and they were going to move him for whatever they could get. The best they could get. And Dallas was very interested, and they made that work."
Steelers front office planned for life without George Pickens as early as 2024
According to Caplan's sources, the Steelers already knew they would approach the 2025 NFL Draft without making Pickens' replacement a top priority. That's when they turned to the trade market.
"They had to get somebody to replace him and they were not going to wait for the draft," Caplan continued. "By the way, the word around the league was, nice receiver draft, not great. And they felt like Metcalf was better than anyone in this draft and they might be right about that, so they made this move."
Pittsburgh did not, in fact, pick a receiver with any of their seven selections at this year's draft. They gave up their second-round pick to acquire Metcalf, and they'll be hoping he's worth that expense. It's also notable that Pittsburgh had so quickly and thoroughly washed its hands of Pickens: Clearly Mike Tomlin had reached his limit with the wide receiver's antics by the end of 2024; there was nothing that was going to talk the Steelers out of moving on from Pickens, it was just a matter of finding an exit strategy.
The 27-year-old recorded 992 receiving yards and five touchdowns in 15 games last year for the Seattle Seahawks. It was the first time since 2021 that he recorded under 1,000 yards and fewer than six scores in a single campaign. The Steelers will need a rebound year out of Metcalf to make their Pickens abandonment plan look more like genius than blunder.