Steelers Now
Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger reacts to Pittsburgh’s decision to trade away wide receiver George Pickens.
The Pittsburgh Steelers created yet another hole at wide receiver after they spent the past year trying to fill it, trading George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys last week. Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger believes it must have been because there were more issues than the average fan could see.
“Is he a bigger headache than we even know? Obviously, we saw last year there were some issues,” Roethlisberger said on the latest episode of “Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger.” “To me, it just seems like the Steelers were over it. At the end of the day, it feels like that’s the biggest thing. They were over it. They weren’t willing to go one more year and see what he could do on the field, with those two receivers on the field, and take our chances with all the headaches we could potentially get this year.”
Pickens was a distraction on and off the field throughout his three years in Pittsburgh. In 2023, he was fined over $200,000 between the NFL and the Steelers for incidents, including reported serial tardiness to team practices and meetings.
In 2024, Pickens received over $80,000 in fines from the NFL for his on-field behavior, including unnecessary roughness, unsportsmanlike conduct, two fights after the end of a loss, and a profane message on his eye black. He also got into a sideline spat with fans.
Maybe the most egregious of offenses was that Pickens arrived late to the team’s Christmas Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs, missing pregame warmups despite the fact that he was returning to action from a hamstring injury.
Through all of that, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had defended Pickens.
“Certainly there’s a lot of room for growth there,” Tomlin said in his post-season press conference in January. “I think he covered some ground in 2024, but there’s certainly a heck of a lot more ground to be covered and we’ll see where it leads us.”
However, Roethlisberger thinks it may have been Pittsburgh just trying to retain whatever value Pickens had left.
“After this year, you have no leverage to get anything for him. So if you know you’re moving on from him, now’s the time to do it and the only chance you’re going to get something for him,” Roethlisberger said. “The timing did seem a little weird, seemed like they couldn’t get much for him. Maybe that’s all what was offered.”
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Ben Roethlisberger Reacts to George Pickens Trade: ‘They Were Over It’
