Steelers Now
George Pickens is not the first standout receiver the Pittsburgh Steelers have shipped off. He probably won’t be the last if things trend like they have for the past decade and a half. Since 2010, Mike Tomlin’s team has offloaded five notable wideouts in Santonio Holmes, Martavis Bryant, Antonio Brown, Chase Claypool, Diontae Johnson, and, on Wednesday, George Pickens.
The Steelers netted 2026 third-round and 2027 fifth-round draft picks from the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for Pickens and a 2026 sixth-round choice. Here’s a look at the Steelers’ recent history with wide receiver trades and how they’ve fared after departing from Pittsburgh.
With the Steelers: A first-round pick out of Ohio State in 2006, Holmes was a four-year starter for the Steelers. The hero and MVP of Super Bowl XLIII at the end of the 2008 season, Holmes was coming off best season in black and gold, a 79-reception, 1,248-yard effort in 2009, when he was traded.
He had been arrested the year before for possession of marijuana and was involved in a domestic violence incident in 2006, with misdemeanor charges later being thrown out.
After the trade: Holmes wouldn’t come within 25 grabs or 500 yards of matching the previously mentioned showing in any of his four seasons with the New York Jets. He fizzled out after nine games with Chicago in 2014.
The return: The Steelers traded the pick they got for Holmes for cornerback Bryant McFadden, a former Steelers player who had signed with the Arizona Cardinals in 2009, and a sixth-round pick. McFadden spent two more seasons with the Steelers, including the 2010 season when he started in Super Bowl XLV.
The Steelers used the sixth-round pick, No. 195 overall, to draft Central Michigan wide receiver Antonio Browns. More on him in a bit.
With the Steelers: Bryant was a freakish athlete, but he couldn’t get out of his own way in Pittsburgh. Over his first two seasons as a Steeler, he displayed an ability to be a game-breaker. He had 765 receiving yards in 11 games in 2015, an output that exceeded expectations for the former fourth-round choice.
He missed the first four games of that go-round due to a drug-related suspension. After the campaign, he was barred for 2016 for the same offense. He slipped down the depth chart because of that before being sent to the Oakland Raiders for a third-round pick.
After the trade: Just over four months later, the Raiders released him as he faced another suspension for the same violation. He played in eight games after Oakland picked him back up soon after — posting 19 receptions for 266 yards and no touchdowns — then was banned indefinitely. Bryant had stints with Dallas, Washington last year after stints with alternate football league teams.
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