Following a four-game losing streak to close the regular season, during which the offense put up 107-, 198-, 162-, and 119-yard passing performances, and following the subsequent road playoff exit at the hands of a division rival that passed it for the division lead over those final four games with a four-game winning streak, Pittsburgh knew it had to improve its passing attack. It started with a single trade, but according to NFL Insider Adam Caplan of FOX Sports Radio, the Steelers always knew that two trades were going to take place. 
Early in the 2024 NFL offseason, the Steelers made a decision about a position they take a lot of pride in. Watching the offense flounder and fumble away a home playoff game, the team looked to improve its receiving corps. It started in early-March, when the Steelers traded for former-Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf before the start of the new league year. While many looked at the roster as adequately improved, now sporting a pair of Metcalf and George Pickens backed by Calvin Austin III and Roman Wilson, the Steelers had made the move with the intention of trading Pickens already in mind.
That’s right, Pittsburgh knew that early that it was moving on from Pickens. In the words of Caplan, the team “made a decision at the end of the 2024 season that they knew that they were not going to extend (Pickens’) contract.” Caplan told listeners, “There was no way this would work with Pickens, they felt, and they were going to move him for whatever they could get. The best they could get. And Dallas was very interested, and they made that work.”
The Cowboys were also in a desperate search for improvement as they sought a suitable WR2 to pair with star receiver CeeDee Lamb. The Cowboys made an early offer for Pickens in the days after the Metcalf-trade, but thought they’d try their luck with the draft when the Steelers didn’t bite. Dallas also inquired into trading for Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman. Bateman, also going into the final year of his rookie deal, opted to stay put and signed a three-year, $36.75MM extension to remain in Baltimore.
The Steelers, on the other hand, had already done their research on the prospective pass catchers in the 2025 NFL Draft. Despite having a penchant for uncovering diamonds in the middle rounds of the draft, there were no prospects that the Steelers liked at the values which they were predicted to fall to. In fact, this lack of faith in the draft solving their problems led to the team’s decision to trade for Metcalf. Once Dallas also failed to find anyone at a value they felt was reasonable in the draft, the Cowboys came back with an upped offer, and the Steelers happily accepted.
The plan was never to play Metcalf and Pickens together; Pickens had become a headache in the building, and the two’s style of play are altogether all too similar. An extension was not in the cards for the 24-year-old, so Pittsburgh took a stab at a more proven 27-year-old asset and signed him to a four-year, $132MM extension. It wasn’t a one-for-one, put the team was even able to replenish some of the picks it sent to Seattle with the picks it received from Dallas and was able to replace a troubling, young receiver on the last year of his contract with a proven veteran signed through the 2029 season.
The Steelers played their cards fairly close to their chest, and they played them extremely well. They got the exact improvements for which they were hoping, and even did best by Pickens and the Cowboys, who may both be in a better situation now as a result. It’s not often the full details come out so soon after the dominos finish falling, but with the recent hindsight being nearly 20/20 on these Steelers’ trades, they appear artfully crafted from here.
Lol
I’m not sure I completely believe this idea… but it’s plausible, and more than one pundit has suggested that this was the scenario that would play out. If the Steelers were going to get any value at all for Pickens the is offseason, they had to be awfully quiet about their plans and about their feelings towards Pickens.
I’d say the $150m contact and sending a 2nd round pick to Seattle for Metcalf shouldn’t be considered quiet.
It wasn’t, but it also in many people’s minds didn’t necessarily indicate that they would then trade Pickens. They badly needed to upgrade at WR whether or not Pickens was on the roster.
Haven’t we read this exact piece 5 times since the trade?
Pickens’ immaturity should have come across during the interview process.
That it didn’t or that the team went and drafted him anyway, indicates poor judgement on the draft decision makers and flaws in the process and content utilized during the interview process. A procedure review is needed.
It was well known leading up to draft its why a top talent lasted to the 52nd pick
Everyone knew he had maturity issues, but look at it this way: There were headaches for sure, but getting 174 catches for 2841 yards and 12 touchdown in three seasons from a guy and then flipping him for a third round pick and change is a really good return on the 52nd pick in the draft.
Najeeee gone too
This was obvious.
He went from difficult and occasional distraction to not showing up for games.
They lied about him being injured to try to minimize the distraction at the end of the season to try to get to the finish line. No way they were going to tolerate that going forward.
Got a decent return for him.
MAYBE just maybe he understands that only so many teams can give up on him and starts caring and Dallas finds something. That’s not the team I would bet on helping him mature, but..
I fin it interesting that if this was the plan I have never heard he was offered to Hawks in the Metcalf trade. You would think it would have been a discussion point. Or maybe it was and Hawk said no way.
Since the trade I’ve read that many teams had zero interest in Pickens, and that if those that did, no one offered anything close to what Dallas did. Methinks that there were a lot of rumors floating around about Pickens’ propensity for misbehavior, some accurate and maybe some not.
I agree I’m just having a hard time actually thinking they planned to trade him before the DK deal.
So two bad teams going nowhere traded a WR. That about covers it.