It’s about getting the ball near that guy, and he’ll do the rest. That guy is George Pickens. You’ve seen the tape. If not, go turn it on. He makes contested catches look routine, twists in midair like a gymnast, and somehow finds daylight where none should exist. And yet, they didn’t use him enough. That’s the real problem, the one Pittsburgh fans are trying not to say too loud. The Steelers had a unicorn and forgot to feed it.

Now, they’re paying $30 million a year to DK Metcalf, a receiver who was similarly underutilized in Seattle. That’s the irony, sharp, bitter, and hard to ignore. As Mike Florio said on the July 9 episode of Pro Football Talk, “It’s about getting the ball near that guy and he will be George Pickens. Go turn on the tape. He’s great at doing it. It’s become very popular to crap on George Pickens. He’s the guy who will contort his body in midair to make the contested catch, and he can get separation. They just didn’t use him enough.”

And now he’s in Dallas. Because now they’re betting big on another physical marvel, Metcalf, who signed a $150 million contract. A guy who can run a 4.3 at 230 pounds but wasn’t exactly celebrated for his route diversity in Seattle. Florio continued, “The Steelers are paying 30 million dollars a year to DK Metcalf, a guy who was never used properly by the Seahawks. The Steelers are bringing to town a guy who was never used properly by his longtime team to replace a guy that they didn’t know how to use properly.”

Which brings us to the central dilemma. If the Steelers couldn’t figure out how to use George Pickens, what makes anyone confident they’ll unlock Metcalf?

Moreover, it could start a new war between the two wide receivers or the clubs. This isn’t about raw talent. This is about design, coaching trust, and system flexibility. The Steelers didn’t build their offense around Pickens. They simply hoped he’d win his battles anyway. He often did. Just not often enough to change minds in the building.

Now, DK Metcalf walks into the same structure, facing the same questions. It is fair to wonder if Pittsburgh traded away a problem they created, and brought back a new version of the same one.

George Pickens predicted to struggle with the Cowboys

“Did the Cowboys get it really right?” That’s the haunting question Mike Florio posed on Pro Football Talk, and honestly, it lingers louder than anything coming out of training camp. Because while George Pickens adjusts to the heat of Texas, he’s quietly doing the things Pittsburgh once begged him to do: win one-on-ones, stay quiet in the media, and trust the quarterback.

George Pickens will perform like he does. But imagine it. DK Metcalf drawing doubles on one side, Pickens bullying CB2s on the other. That was the setup. That was the vision. Instead, the Steelers shipped off the problem they never understood. The problem wasn’t Pickens. The problem was structure. And now it’s Dallas trying to clean up the mess and turn it into something explosive.

Pickens, for his part, gets it. He’s in a contract year. He knows CeeDee Lamb is WR1. So now he’s just, as Florio put it, “taking what he can get.” It’s not a defeat. It’s a calculation. But here’s the pressure point, as Florio put it, “Will Dak Prescott find him in that sweet spot?”

Will the Cowboys’ offense give Pickens just enough to cash in without causing friction with Lamb or whatever other big-name wideout might show up? Because if they don’t, and he slips through the cracks like he did in Pittsburgh, it won’t just be Dallas answering hard questions. It’ll be Dak too. Pickens already embraced his reality. Now we wait to see if Dallas has the system, the trust, and the space to match it.