Though under contract for the 2025 season, there’s no guarantee WR George Pickens is on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ roster come next season. In a list naming 15 offseason trade candidates, Pro Football Focus’ Bradley Locker included Pickens as a potential player on the move. For reasons largely related beyond his football talent.
“Pickens is entering a contract year in 2025, and he’ll undoubtedly seek a compensatory payday before going into next season. The question is whether or not the Steelers want to entrust him with that and commit to him long-term,” Locker wrote.
As he noted, Pickens is entering a contract year and the first one in which he’s eligible to receive a long-term extension. The Steelers’ leading receiver in 2024 and one of the most physically gifted talents at his position, he could ask for significant pay raise and take advantage of a hot receiver market. Asking for $30 million per season isn’t out of the question.
It’s not clear if the Steelers are ready to pony up. They would have to feel comfortable with Pickens the person as much as Pickens the player. Someone quick to show his frustration and always in the news for seemingly something unrelated to catching passes and scoring touchdowns. He also closed out the regular season on a sour note, missing three games with a hamstring injury while having a drop-filled performance Week 18 against the Bengals.
Given how other big-talent, big-headache receivers have ended their time in Pittsburgh, moving Pickens isn’t a crazy thought. He’d be the latest in a long line of names: Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, Chase Claypool, and Diontae Johnson. The Steelers came out on the better end of the deal in all of those and could make a similar assessment with Pickens.
Locker thinks a trade is firmly on the table.
“Pittsburgh trading Pickens isn’t as improbable as one might think, especially considering a deep free-agent receiver crop,” he said.
Cincinnati Bengals WR Tee Higgins is the top name slated to hit the open market. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Chris Godwin and Buffalo Bills’ Amari Cooper are also big names set to become free agents, and each draft class seems to get deeper at the position thanks to college football’s big-play passing games. PFF’s list of 15 trade candidates also includes several other wide receivers in the Seattle Seahawks’ DK Metcalf, San Francisco 49ers’ Deebo Samuel, and New York Jets’ Garrett Wilson.
That could give Pittsburgh more confidence to deal Pickens and replenish elsewhere though it also gives 31 other teams other outlets than dealing for and paying Pickens.
