The Pittsburgh Steelers are finally out of the George Pickens business. The 24-year-old in on his way to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick. In the final year of his contract, Pickens will now get to share the field with All-Pro wideout CeeDee Lamb, catching bombs from Dak Prescott.
As for Pittsburgh, it seems like this was the inevitable course of action after acquiring DK Metcalf. Many fans expressed excitement about the combined powers of Metcalf and Pickens, but as it turns out, Metcalf's arrival was mostly an excuse to finally cut ties with the locker room's biggest headache.
In classic Steelers fashion, however, there's a good chance the Pickens trade ends up dripping with irony, as it may set up an even bigger locker room headache in the form of Aaron Rodgers. Apparently the four-time MVP has been throwing with Metcalf all offseason, but not Pickens, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. It feels like only a matter of time until Rodgers finally, inevitably accepts a contract with the Steel City crew.
Steelers set to pivot from George Pickens to Aaron Rodgers in net negative for locker room experience
Rodgers still has not technically rendered a decision on his immediate future, but all the signs point to him signing with Pittsburgh for at least one more go-around in the NFL. His New York Jets tenure ended on the sourest of notes and he still has something left in the tank, even if he's not the All-Pro superstar of yesteryear.
The Steelers, really more than any other NFL team, need a quarterback. It's fair to paint Mason Rudolph has the worst — or perhaps the least inspiring — starting QB in football. Will Howard, their sixth-round pick, is not up to par for an NFL starter in Week 1. Pittsburgh has put all its eggs in Rodgers' basket, and that just does not happen without a reasonable amount of faith in his inevitable arrival.
That is where the irony kicks in, though. Pickens was viewed by many as a toxic force in the Steelers locker room. His body language frequently skewed negative and he never really put up max effort for an extended period of time. Pickens at his peak is one of the very best playmakers in the NFL, but too often he's settling far below his peak out of spite or frustration with the circumstances around him. That in turn leads to spite and frustration aimed right back at Pickens.
Getting him out of the building to avoid a long-term contract extension is understandable for that reason alone. But now the Steelers are expected to bring in Rodgers, whose conspiratorial nature led to countless controversies in East Rutherford. Rodgers is still a smart quarterback with some leadership skills in the locker room, but he also missed mandatory mini camp last season to vacation in Egypt, which led to a $50,000 fine from the Jets organization. He says he does not want to create distractions, but all Rodgers does — whether it's spouting nonsense on The Pat McAfee Show or taking months on end to decide if he actually wants to play football — is absorb the spotlight and relish his own, messed-up self mythology.
Maybe Pittsburgh should reconsider.