Steelers Now
After a 1,400-yard season with the Dallas Cowboys, former Pittsburgh Steelers receiver George Pickens has demonstrated the ability — on the field, at least — to be a team’s primary target. It’s just not a sure thing that he’ll be that for America’s Team after this upcoming season.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein, Pickens and the Cowboys aren’t in talks on a long-term extension ahead of today’s deadline for franchise-tagged players. Pickens will play on a $27.3 million tag.
“He’s on track to participate in training camp, sources say,” Epstein wrote Wednesday on X.
After the Steelers sent the mercurial Pickens away for two mid-round draft picks last offseason, Wave’s Bomani Jones was blunt about why.
“The answer why is very simple — something wrong with that boy. I don’t know what exactly it is that is wrong with him, but something wrong with that boy,” Jones said. “You have seen the plays where George Pickens is running the route, it’s an interception on the route and instead of trying to tackle the person who has the ball, George Pickens is trying to fight the person who had been covering him.
“Why? Because something wrong with that boy. I’m not saying, like, it’s clinical. I’m not saying it’s got a diagnosis. I’m just saying something ain’t right. You be watching him play and you be like, ‘Hey, man, I don’t know what’s going on here, but something ain’t right.’”
Pickens set career-bests with 1,429 receiving yards, 93 catches and nine touchdown grabs while catching passes from Dak Prescott last go-round. The Steelers, meanwhile, have forged on with DK Metcalf and, now, Michael Pittman Jr. and Germie Bernard.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Cowboys Make Telling George Pickens Decision
