Having played out the first three seasons of his rookie contract, George Pickens is eligible for an extension. In spite of that fact – and his status as a potential 2026 free agent – his Steelers future remains a notable point of discussion and uncertainty. 
Entering the draft, Pickens was regarded as one of the most talented prospects at the receiver position. Character concerns played a role in his drop to the second round, but expectations remained relatively high for his rookie campaign. Serving as a No. 2 option to Diontae Johnson, Pickens posted 801 yards on an average of 15.4 per reception in 2022. During the following season he took over as Pittsburgh’s top option in the passing game, leading the league with an 18.1 yards per catch average and recording a 63-1,140-5 statline.
Johnson was traded away last offseason, but that move and the decision to release Allen Robinson left the Steelers short on established wideouts. Efforts to make a major addition by trade (in particular Brandon Aiyuk during the summer and Christian Kirk ahead of the deadline) did not result in a deal being made. Pickens therefore remained the top catalyst on offense for the Steelers, a unit which struggled mightily down the stretch. Part of Pittsburgh’s five-game losing streak (counting the wild-card round) to close out the campaign included Pickens’ missed time due to a hamstring injury, but even upon return he had an inconsistent showing.
While sorting out the quarterback position is an obvious priority for the Steelers this offseason, adding at the WR spot is another. Acquiring a new No. 1 option through free agency, trade or the draft would be challenging for general manager Omar Khan, but doing so could open the door to moving on from Pickens. As Mark Kaboly of the Pat McAfee Show notes, trading away the 23-year-old is an option the team may be prepared to explore if a major pickup were to be made this spring.
Calvin Austin III and Roman Wilson are recent midround receiver draftees, but further investment will be needed moving forward. As Kaboly adds, selecting a wideout in the first round of April’s draft would not come as a surprise; that would of course be particularly true if Pickens were to be dealt. Finding a suitor willing to acquire and extend the Georgia product could be difficult, though.
Pickens is in line for a second contract any time between now and next offseason, and the top of the receiver market sits at $35MM per year. Matching Justin Jefferson’s compensation (or that which Ja’Marr Chase is in line to receive soon) would be a stretch, but Pickens could easily join the list of receivers (which currently sits at 23) making $20MM or more on average per year on an extension. He comfortably led Pittsburgh in receiving in 2024 and will be expected to continue as one of the league’s premier deep threats and contested catch specialists on the Steelers or another team moving forward.
Head coach Mike Tomlin – who will remain in place as Pittsburgh’s head coach for 2025 – has a reputation of maximizing the potential of wideouts carrying off-the-field and attitude concerns. That has been the case so far with Pickens, although earlier this year Tomlin admitted in a post-game press conference his team’s WR1 needs to “grow up.” The sentiment regarding Pickens around the league will (along with financial considerations) be a key factor in determining his potential trade market.
Of course, the Steelers have the option of keeping Pickens in place for at least one more season. A franchise tag could also be used to retain him for the 2026 season if no long-term commitment is made, although by that point it will be clearer if team and player wish to continue their relationship. Should the Steelers open extension talks in the near future, the likelihood of a trade would obviously decrease. In the event negotiations are put on hold or do not progress as planned, however, the possibility of making a deal will no doubt be raised in Pickens’ case.
Ryan Poles just left a voicemail, he is offering 2 1sts and a 4th.
Poles can’t afford to give up 2 1st’s for J’ammar Chase. He needs every one he can get.
“Maximizing the potential”? I truly miss Hines Ward.
Nope, time to move on. Not worth top money and a head case.
Just let him play out the last year of his deal. He will, in theory, be motivated to keep focused and perform. Then you either let him walk and take the compensation pick or resign him at that point
Issue is, he gives up on plays and disrupts the locker room
Send em to Carolina for a 4th rounder
Carolina says no. They’ve seen that movie before. Since Dallas gave up a fourth for Mingo, might be better to try Dallas.
True. Dallas will probably give up a 1st
Send him to patriots to be a weapon for drake maye
He’s a malcontent
Ad in the NFL Gazette: Willing to trade WR. Severe mental problems, And consistent dropping of footballs and whining about every little thing are the norm. Wants to make top dollar only, Be prepared to open your checkbook. Compensation up for negotiation but we wasted a draft pick on him. Personal Psychiatrist is a must. Might have CTE. Reply: Pittsburgh Steelers.
Tomlin’s issues aren’t just X’s and O’s. His drafts have been bad too. There is some kind of pass he gets on all these bad apples.
He may have a say in the picks and be turning into the most mediocre coach in the NFL, but he isn’t the GM.
He is the one in charge of the personnel on the field. The amount of problem WRs that he has produced and permitted to flourish on his roster is inexcusable. It gets swept under the rug and excused away with his no losing season streak.
Tomlin has worn out his welcome and needs to be removed.
Permitted to flourish?
Excused away his non losing season streak?
Do you hate winning, hate the Steelers or struggle remembering the difference between up and down?
Some of you are so desperate to complain about Tomlin that you make complete fools of yourselves.
What a dumb take. You’re right. Fans should be happy being in the mushy middle because after all, the Steelers aren’t the Bears every year
Enjoy mediocrity because most teams are stuck in cycles of average, bad, worse, a good year or two, rinse, repeat
Flawless logic.
I don’t advocate firing anyone but Tomlin is the face and boss of the franchise. He has a large hand in everything, from just coaching to all personnel matters, to hiring “assistants” whose top requirement is to fall in line with everything and offer no new, fresh visions. It’s been Groundhog Day here for years.
As for Pickens, please ship him
If they don’t extend him he’ll pout all year. If they do, it’ll be more of the same diva act
He and a number of the big contracts should go to accumulate some draft picks and sorely needed fire
As for Tomlin, it’d be nice if Rooney ‘advised’ him to put aside the stubbornness and cede a little contro
Being in the playoffs every year is not the “mushy middle”
Another day, another manchild pout essay about Tomlin from you lmao
Getting high level production out of a player that literally NO OTHER COACH can even keep on the field makes you a bad coach, don’t you know?
At this point i almost want the Steelers to fire Tomlin so Steeler fans can maybe one day appreciate going to the playoffs 12 times in 17 years and winning a SB in one of them. Theyre just begging to have nothing but 5-7 win seasons and a new coach every 3 years
He isn’t a bad coach by any means, but being a guarenteed wild card round loser isn’t exactly some great achievement. The goal shouldn’t be to finish with a winning record at this point in his tenure. There are a lot of teams that finished behind him with much better prospects of winning in the next couple of years.
jdgoat, the goal isn’t to finish 18 years in a row without a loosing season to begin a coaching career, that just happens to be what happened (for the first time in history). Maybe that get Tomlin a bit of a longer leash.
With all the Tomlin haters, I’ll hazard to guess that if the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game by the time his contract is up, he will be gone. The haters will be able. Me? I say be careful what you wish for.
Haters will be happy….. I meant
emac22, I don’t care for hype around a guy who hasn’t won a playoff game in a decade. He is a good coach no doubt about it but Mike McCarthy has more playoff wins than Tomlin in the last 10 years.
Do they hang banners in stadiums for consecutive winning seasons or first round bounces.
You can argue about him being a good coach all you want but the end result is that he hasn’t won a playoff game since 2016. How many coaches have a job with that sort of record of non-achievement? I will save you some time, there are ZERO head coaches still with a team after not winning a playoff game in 8 years. ZERO.
The Steelers have put up with mediocre coaching performances for nearly a decade now and still trot out the same ole tropes about him winning every year, no losing seasons, always in the mix.
But the fact is that even while he might be in the mix, his teams are never considered favorites and are always just a practice game for whoever they play round 1.
How does one guy create an entire cult of people to be happy with losing or not making the playoffs every single year? Weaponized mediocrity.
All too often, we hear from fans who either watch a great deal of the morning shows on ESPN and are subject to the Tomlin worship or are aligned with perennially bad teams.
Yeah, there are “Tomlin haters” here in Pittsburgh who dislike the guy for any number of reasons that don’t pertain to football. And yes, perhaps there are some fans that think there’s some entitlement for Super Bowl runs every year
But average fans aren’t in that boat. Bradshaw’s comments after the Steelers loss in Baltimore, that they ‘aren’t relevant now and haven’t been for a long time’ is one thing. Cowher discussing his shock over how the Steelers were dominated and manhandled and that “there have to be a lot of changes in Pittsburgh” another
Tomlin the motivator wasn’t able to get his team to show up down the stretch. Whether the team quit or was just disinterested, why was it evident to everyone except the Tomlin fan club?
There is another kind of pass he gets where people ignore picking HOF’ers at #30 in Watt and Heyward (plus trading a #18 for Minkah while he was young and proven) and the other picks that have kept them a playoff team despite picking late every year and ONLY focus on the busts.
GB needs a #1 get them on the phone.
GB doesn’t deserve that head case. Have you watched his play and tantrums?
Good athlete. Bad attitude.
Stop drafting these head cases that although talented disrupt chemistry of the team.
I wouldn’t move him for anything less than a 1st round pick. I wouldn’t extend him but I’d let him play out this year and then tag him for one year. At that point any tag, trade or extention would be on the table if he gets himself focused.
Anyone giving up a #1 pick for Pickens may as well submit their resignation. For they will be fired instantly.
Maybe a conditional 2nd round pick. Don’t think a team trades a first for him but an added 3rd or 4th round pick is added if he either signs an extension or meets performance goals.
Cheap rental. Incentive stacked contract. Could be worth a long term if stacked right. Gotta contract lock these wild boys. What a line up the jets would have. Dolphins also do this type. If chiefs lose. If raiders miss on wr1. Perhaps. Rental.
My initial thought to the headline before reading the article was that Pittsburgh could get a bit creative and send Pickens plus a 2nd or 3rd pick to the Jets for Garrett Wilson. Then both WR’s get out of a situation that isn’t working and get a fresh start and new contracts.
I was thinking along these lines too. Pickens and a 3rd rd pick for Garrett Wilson. Makes sense, plus the Jets are just the type of organization to make a move like that.
Never expected Pitt to extend him due to the headaches he creates. He hasn’t performed like an AB and some other wrs Pitt was willing to deal with.
Malcontent. Moron. Head case…….many things along that nature,
But never EVER a true top 10 talent in the NFL at Wr.
He is LIGHT years away from a Chase / Jefferson / St. Brown talent. Behind AJ Brown / Devante Adams / Puka Nucua / Hill / LAmb list is LONG b4 Id even speak Pickens name.
He’s absolutely a top 10 talent. He’s just not a top 10 player because he’s a headcase.
Which means he’s NOT a top 10.
Great talent. BUT toxic
Selective effort and comfortable throwing teammates under the bus even when he plays like crap