Most pundits seem staunchly opposed to the Pittsburgh Steelers trading George Pickens, but ESPN analyst Louis Riddick understands why they made the move.
Riddick says Pickens’s talent is immense, but at some point, his antics go too far. For the Steelers, it appears things reached a breaking point on that front, which prompted a trade.
Riddick says the Cowboys are taking on a risk knowing Pickens’ mercurial nature, and the Steelers know exactly the type of player they just traded.
“There comes a point in time where you just say, ‘Hey, look, the talent is not good enough at this point for me to continue to tolerate it,” Riddick said. “…I don’t know if Dallas knows what they’re getting. I don’t know what they’re getting. Nobody knows how George is going to react there, but Pittsburgh knows what they got rid of, and that is something, if you’re Dallas, you better sit there and go ‘dang, well, hmm.’ They’re the ones who have now brought it into their building.”
Pickens plans to play out his rookie contract and hit free agency next year without an extension. That could give the Cowboys a focused Pickens who hopes to land a big contract next offseason.
The second-round pick of the Steelers in the 2022 NFL Draft, both he and Kenny Pickett, the team’s first two picks from that draft, never finished their rookie contracts with the team.
Pickens missed three games with a hamstring injury, dampening what looked to be a second-straight 1000-yard season with the third-year wide receiver.
He averaged 15.3 yards per reception with 59 receptions for 900 yards on the year. In each of the last two seasons, Pickens has eclipsed 15 yards per catch and 900 yards as the focus of the team’s passing offense.