Rob Gregson talks about the recent rumors and reports surrounding Pittsburgh Steelers star wide receiver George Pickens, who could be on his way out of Pittsburgh very soon.
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00:00George Pickens escaped being traded during the 2025 NFL Draft, but he's not in the clear just yet.
00:06In fact, recent reports suggest that Pickens' days in Pittsburgh could be numbered.
00:14Hey everyone, Rob Greggs of A to Z Sports Pittsburgh, and today we're going to break down the recent reports
00:21surrounding George Pickens' future with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
00:24Late last week and into the weekend, we had multiple reports from both Jerry Dulac and James Palmer
00:30that the situation between the Steelers and George Pickens is not great.
00:35Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that he won't play in 2025, but just about everywhere you turn,
00:42it looks like George Pickens will not be back after this upcoming season.
00:46There was a time when we were discussing how much George Pickens might make in a contract extension
00:53with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
00:54Well, those days, they are officially over.
00:56The Steelers are very likely to move on from George Pickens, whether that's as soon as trading him
01:02before the season at the midseason trade deadline, or just letting him walk in free agency when the
01:10season ends and March comes around next year.
01:12It's very unlikely that we see George Pickens with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2026.
01:17And frankly, it's not a surprise, but it doesn't mean that it's not a disappointment.
01:21George Pickens, when he is on his game, is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL,
01:27one of the most entertaining, but also one of the best.
01:31Nobody, and I mean nobody in the league, can go up and win 50-50 balls the way George Pickens can.
01:37Obviously, he's developed his route running.
01:39You look at his stats the last two years, easily going over 1,000 yards in 2023
01:45with three different quarterbacks named Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, and Mason Rudolph.
01:51Then last year, still nearly getting to 1,000 yards despite missing three games with a hamstring injury
01:57and multiple quarterbacks again.
02:00There's no question that when he's on the field and he's at his best,
02:03he is an elite, elite wide receiver talent in the league.
02:08The problem is everything that goes on in between the ears for George Pickens,
02:12whether that's on Sundays, in the game, after the game, during the week,
02:17he just has yet to show the maturity that the Pittsburgh Steelers would like.
02:21And if the Pittsburgh Steelers of all teams,
02:25we're talking about a franchise that's dealt with Le'Veon Bell,
02:27with Antonio Brown, with Plexico Burrs,
02:29you can go down the line.
02:32This is a franchise that's far from being scared of any character or any character concern.
02:38If they are saying we don't want to extend George Pickens,
02:40if they are saying we are going to move on and select a new wide receiver
02:45or sign a new wide receiver to replace George Pickens in free agency in next year's NFL draft,
02:51that says a lot about George Pickens and his future in the NFL in general.
02:57So, for the Steelers, it's a disappointment, but it's not a surprise.
03:02They knew what they were getting when they took George Pickens out of Georgia back in 2022.
03:06They knew that the most talented wide receiver in the class, one could argue,
03:12fell to the second round for a reason.
03:14His knee was clean.
03:16Obviously, we've seen him remain extremely durable.
03:20Everything that was reported about being a character concern,
03:24it's all come to fruition.
03:25It's all come to light, and while none of it is extremely serious,
03:29it just makes for a huge headache,
03:31and the Pittsburgh Steelers are tired of that headache.