Mike Florio ,
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After trading for — and paying big money to — receiver DK Metcalf, the Steelers traded receiver George Pickens to the Cowboys.
In an item for ThePlayersTribune.com, Pickens explains that he has no hard feelings toward the team that drafted him in 2022.
“I honestly don’t have a bad word to say about Pittsburgh,” Pickens said. “I can call up Coach [Tomlin] right now and we’d have a good conversation. What I really respect about Coach is that he was telling me the whole time, ‘Just keep being you, George.’ There was no beef. It just wasn’t really a fit long-term.
“When I knew they were bringing in DK with the two-tight-end offense, I thought: Cool, perfect for y’all. Let me get up out of here and get you a pick. And that’s how it went down. They did right by me, in the end. We were talking the whole time, and they sent me to the perfect spot in Dallas.”
Pickens admits that, during his time in Pittsburgh, “I was still a kid. I made some mistakes. I’ll own that. I let my emotions get the best of me a few times, because I’m always riding that line. That’s just who I am. I’ve tried to learn from it and grow while still being me.”
The reality is that Pickens, whose immense talent is now fully on display thanks to quarterback Dak Prescott, didn’t have the same thing in Pittsburgh with Kenny Pickett.
“I did what I could with what I had, bro,” Pickens said.
He described the move as a “win-win.” But the Steelers would have won more games during Pickens’s time in Pittsburgh if they had someone who could get the ball more often. And they wouldn’t have needed to trade for Metcalf; they’d have someone younger and (frankly) better in Pickens.
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