Six awful words describe the Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver woes that reared their ugly head in 2024: “Be careful what you wish for.”
No one will argue that the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Diontae Johnson trade that brought CB Donte Jackson from the Carolina Panthers this past offseason—especially after Johnson’s meltdown with three NFL teams since. However, the Steelers traded away their WR 1-B with little backup plan in place, and they may be poised to do the same with WR George Pickens in the 2025 offseason.
Pickens has proven himself to be truly electrifying on the field, but his immature antics have created huge distractions for the Pittsburgh Steelers—just as Johnson did.
If the Steelers trade away Pickens in 2025, Pittsburgh would need to hit a home run in free agency and the draft—but history isn’t on their side.
When Antonio Brown left the Steelers in 2019, Pittsburgh miserably attempted to fill the void with Donte Moncrief. Little changed when Johnson left in 2024, as the Steelers turned to Van Jefferson—and many fans know how that turned out.
Here’s to hoping the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t make any rash decisions regarding Pickens and avoid treating him like Johnson.