Here we are once again. George Pickens and a 2026 6th Round Pick have been sent to Dallas for a 2026 3rd Round Pick and a 2027 5th Round Pick. I won’t lie and say I expected this – I knew it was possible, but I was on the side of they weren’t going to trade him after the WR room disaster last year and Khan, Tomlin, and Rooney all saying it was a priority to fix that. Well clearly those words were to appease the fans and is not the focus of whatever their plan is going forward.

Talent-wise Pickens is worth a 2, especially in a wide receiver-driven league, but it’s clear most of the NFL wants nothing to do with Pickens’ attitude, so you take the third and put yourself in a position to move up for a QB next year in Pittsburgh with your three third round picks. I was always a big Pickens fan and it sucks to see him go. He’s been our only offense for three years and brought a piece of entertainment, whether good or bad, to a team that has been more than boring the last four years. He had every right to be upset with a team that used him so poorly.

Everyone around the league wants to praise Tomlin and the Steelers for getting rid of receivers when they become too much of a distraction. In terms of making the locker room a better place there’s no doubt that’s correct – Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, Chase Claypool, and Diontae Johnson were all crazy in their own right and imploded after getting traded, making the Steelers look brilliant. But what about the actual return the Steelers got in those trades?

• Martavis Bryant: The Steelers used the 3rd round pick they got for Bryant to trade up in the 2018 draft for Mason Rudolph. I’d say this is a wash, as Rudolph never amounted to much and the receiver they took in the second round that same year to replace Bryant, James Washington, did hardly anything and is not even signed to a team.
• Antonio Brown: The 2019 3rd and 5th rounders they got turned into Diontae Johnson and Zach Gentry. AB is impossible to replace, so I’ll grade this one as a success considering Johnson was a good receiver for five years before losing his head.
• Chase Claypool: Getting the 33rd overall pick from the Bears in this trade and selecting Joey Porter Jr is a win. Claypool is out of the league already and Porter has been solid (most of the time) as CB1.
• Diontae Johnson: The Steelers got Donte Jackson, who was solid the first half of the year but collapsed the second half and is now on the Chargers, and selected Logan Lee with the 5th rounder, who is likely to be cut this upcoming training camp. This is probably also a wash.

Overall making these trades at the time was the right move, but in reality none of the trades fully recouped the production that was lost on the field other than the Claypool trade. Pickens might be a loose cannon, but I have a really hard time seeing him not thrive in Dallas, at least for one year. Will the third rounder for Pickens next year be used to acquire the difference maker they’ve been looking for? Only time will tell.

As for what’s next, I really don’t know. The only way I can describe the way the Steelers have been managed this offseason is weird. Before free agency even starts they trade for DK Metcalf and sign him to a massive long-term deal. Okay, the WR room is fixed, they must have a plan about who’s getting them the ball right? Well after management says Wilson or Fields will be back, they let both of them walk, resign Mason Rudolph, and are sitting here playing the waiting game with Aaron Rodgers. Heading into the draft they clearly knew they were going to trade Pickens, so why not address the receiver position? Solid talent like Jalen Royals and Elic Ayomanor were available in the fourth round, but instead they add to what is arguably the best edge room in the league and take Jack Sawyer (I loved the pick at the time, BTW).

And today they send Pickens to Dallas. Does it give me promise that they’re going to finally try to fix the QB position in 2026? Yes, absolutely, and hopefully it turns out to be 2004 all over again and we get the QB that gets the franchise back to “The Standard”.

But here’s the thing. Tomlin has said multiple times he wants to “see the confetti falling” around Watt, Cam, and Minkah. Whether it’s Rodgers or Rudolph that’s not happening in 2025, especially without Pickens. Maybe they sign Amari Cooper, Keenan Allen, the recently released Gabe Davis, or trade for one of the Green Bay receivers to save face, but none of those guys move the needle, and if anything just add another win or two and put you further away from the top of the first round. Watt will be 32 in 2026, 2025 could very well be Cam’s last season, and Minkah could be gone too if his play continues to drop partnered with his massive cap hit.

And the biggest thing is there’s no guarantee the QB they select in 2026 is good. Even if he is, the odds of a CJ Stroud/Jayden Daniels rookie season is astronomically low. I just don’t see how they can reubild, solve the QB problem AND get those guys a ring, it just doesn’t add up. You have to do one or the other. Trading TJ Watt or Cam would be heartbreaking, but if you really want to put yourself in a position to rebuild as quickly as possible that would be the way to do it – not only add a young QB, but surround him with young, early-round talent. But they won’t, they’ll win 7-10 games in 2025 and either narrowly miss the playoffs or get bounced in the first round again, and all the same questions about this team will be back in the Spring of next year.

Their situation is just bizarre. Never in my life have I ever been so confused both about what they themselves want to do and what I want to see them do. But the only thing that’s for certain is that it’s no one else’s fault but their own. From not addressing QB earlier, to not adapting their offensive scheme, to drafting wide receivers with character questions in the first place, it all falls on Tomlin and co. Between the Pirates joke of a team and the Penguins firing their coach and trying to do some sort of one-year rebuild for Crosby, it’s been eight years since any of the teams in Pittsburgh were truly relevant. There’s not a lot of hope in the city right now, and the Steelers aren’t instilling any, that’s for sure. Maybe everything changes in Pittsburgh during the 2026 draft, but for now they’ll remain in purgatory, or “burgh-atory” for the foreseeable future.