Leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft that gets underway on Thursday night, stories linked receiver-needy teams such as the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers with George Pickens of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
During Wednesday's edition of the "Scoop City" podcast, NFL insider Dianna Russini of The Athletic indicated the Steelers aren't in any hurry to trade Pickens for pennies on the dollar before the draft ends on Saturday.
"There's a lot of rumors I've been seeing about George Pickens getting traded," Russini said, as shared by Jake Brockhoff of Steelers Depot. "I don't get that sense. Do I think the player might like the idea? Yes. But I don't get the sense that right now, a team is calling the Pittsburgh Steelers looking to trade for George Pickens. ...I don't really get the sense that that's something that they're doing."
Pickens became the subject of trade rumors long before Pittsburgh acquired DK Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks and then handed Metcalf a five-year contract worth $150M earlier this offseason. Pickens is in the final year of his rookie deal, and there's no sign he's close to putting pen to paper on an extension with his current employer.
That said, Pickens may not have much trade value for reasons that go beyond the fact that a team likely would have to lock him down via a multi-year deal to keep him happy. He repeatedly caused numerous headaches for head coach Mike Tomlin across his first three NFL seasons, and he has yet to produce elite numbers at the highest level.
Over 48 regular-season games, Pickens tallied 174 total receptions for 2,841 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Per Matthew Marczi of Steelers Depot, Steelers/NFL reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala of CBS Sports said during a Wednesday appearance on 93.7 The Fan that she thinks the Steelers "would love" to get a "really good offer" for Pickens. It remains to be seen if general manager Omar Khan would accept a second-round draft pick in return for the young wideout.
"From what I've been told," Kinkhabwala added, "they are not actively shopping him. ...I don't know that there's a huge market for him."
The Steelers will be a win-now team if they sign 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers at some point this spring or summer. Unless Rodgers is fine with the club moving on from Pickens, Khan should want to hold onto the 24-year-old through at least the start of the 2025 season.
