The D.K. Metcalf trade for the Pittsburgh Steelers makes less sense if the team also plans to trade fellow receiver George Pickens this offseason. But The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo didn’t rule out that possibility.
While appearing on 93.7 The Fan on March 14, Fittipaldo argued it’s not clear if Pickens will begin the 2025 season on the Steelers roster.
“I’ll say yes for now, but that is totally up in the air,” said Fittipaldo, via Steelers Depot’s Joe Clark.
In 2025, Pickens will enter the final season of his rookie contract. It’s unlikely he will receive an extension this summer with the Steelers agreeing to four-year, $132 million contract with Metcalf this past week.
Pickens has been Pittsburgh’s top wideout in terms of yardage the past two seasons. During 2024, he posted 59 catches for 900 yards while averaging 15.3 yards per reception.
Pickens has averaged 16.3 yards per catch in 48 NFL games.
‘Up to George Pickens’ Whether He Stays With Steelers?
Fittipaldo addressed Pickens’ future on the radio multiple times during the first week of NFL free agency. Even though Pickens is under contract for one more season, Fittipaldo argued on March 12 that his future is in his hands.
“If George is a good soldier, and he comes in, and he works, and he puts his head down, and he wants to be a part of this thing, I think there will probably be a tendency to keep him,” Fittipaldo said on 93.7 The Fan, via Steelers Depot’s Josh Carney .
“What this Metcalf acquisition does, it gives them all of their options, right? So if they do want to trade George this week, they could do that. If they wanna trade George on draft day, they could do that. You’d probably get, I don’t know about a second, you’re probably get maybe a third in return for him.
“Maybe you could turn around and draft another receiver, a guy who’s gonna be here beyond next season. So that’s the difficult part of this.”
Carney described the situation as a test for Pickens. If he can show he has matured and will cooperate with the Steelers in 2025, Pittsburgh’s passing offense could have a really big 2025 campaign.
Whether that’s with the Steelers or not, that would result in the largest pay day for Pickens.
Trading Pickens gets the Steelers back to where they were a week ago — with only one above average receiver on the roster. But if Pickens becomes a problem, the Steelers might not have a choice but to trade him.
Will Pickens Pass the Steelers’ Test?
Assuming the Steelers are “testing” Pickens, if the young receiver passes the test, then the Steelers will be big initial winners of the Metcalf trade. With Metcalf and Pickens, Pittsburgh may have the best deep-threat combination in the league.
But Pickens has yet to truly show he’s matured, and testing him to display that now could backfire tremendously.
This is the same receiver that appeared to be flirting with the Kansas City Chiefs after a loss on Christmas Day.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio argued that with a brief postgame handshake during a Netflix interview, Pickens was telling Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce to “come get me.”
That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the drama surrounding Pickens. That drama is the reason why Pittsburgh sports personalities such as Mark Madden have argued the Steelers can’t afford to extend Pickens a new contract.
They can’t afford it now from a financial perspective. But Pickens can still be part of a special duo in 2025. That, though, may be up to him.
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