On one side, the Dallas Cowboys are extremely happy and excited that Jerry Jones landed George Pickens. On the other hand, how does the Steelers locker room feel about the trade? On May 7, Mike Tomlin‘s Steelers decided to move on from the three-year rookie WR Pickens in exchange for a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick. There is no doubt the Steelers have lost one of the best wideouts in the NFL right now. But is the locker room situation implying the same? Here is the answer to that question.

Recently, long-time Pittsburgh reporter and Post-Gazette Gerry Dulac was on Dan Patrick’s podcast, where he revealed major reasons, in fact a list of reasons, why Mike Tomlin moved on from Pickens and what the locker room’s stance was. First of all, he said, “Obviously, I wasn’t shocked because I knew they were going to move on him at some point. They were never going to give George Pickens a second contract. That was never going to happen. And I never thought they would just let him walk. When they didn’t take a receiver [in the 2025 NFL draft], I thought they were content to go into the season with a, you know, a double-barreled receiving room with DK Metcalf and George Pickens.” But then Gerry Dulca revealed a wise man’s quote Mike Tomlin had told him when he once had asked about George Pickens. 

The reporter continued, “But, you know, a coach told me this a long time ago, Dan, and it’s still true. When the production outweighs the aggravation, you keep them. When the aggravation outweighs the production, you get rid of them. And that’s what happens with George Pickens. They just thought that his teammates had a problem in the locker room. It became a problem with Mike Tomlin. It wasn’t just his on-field temperament and behavior.” So, that was the indirect answer we have, which is true.

But despite this, Tomlin had defended the 24-year-old WR many times. Remember his 2023 game where he couldn’t block Jaylen Warren? The media bashed Pickens for that. But then Mike Tomlin replied to the media by calling them Vulture-like. For who? A rookie WR. And what he gave him back- rift with teammates, taunting teammates. But these were not the only reasons Gerry Dulac pointed out, there are more. 

Anybody would have thought that the Steelers moved on from George Pickens because now they have DK Metcalf, but that story is cooked. The reason is the other way round. You know, another reporter from Pittsburgh, Mark Kaboly, also reported on May 8 that neither GM Khan nor the front office wanted to dump Pickens, but Tomlin wanted to. This is nothing but a sign of how personality and work ethic, and discipline sometimes prevail over talent. 

George Pickens was himself responsible for the trade to the Cowboys 

Now we can confirm that neither the shaky QB situation nor DK Metcalf’s induction was the real reason behind George Pickens’ trade. But the real ones were his coming late to meetings, rule violations, and more; that’s what Gerry Dulac further said in his interview with Dan Patrick. He pointed out concrete reasons why Mike Tomlin made that decision to trade him. 

The Pittsburgh reporter said, “Repeated violations off the field, late for meetings, skipping meetings, late to games. It was just on and on, and it just got to the point where they weren’t, especially after they traded for DK Metcalf. They just weren’t going to tolerate it anymore.” After free agency started, the Steelers immediately grabbed the big bite from the agency and landed 27-YO WR. 

But to talk more about the violations, do you remember when the Steelers were going head-to-head against the Bengals in the 1st week of December 2024? In that game, the NFL announced two fines directed at Pickens totaling $20,462 due to two unsportsmanlike conduct violations. He had made taunts to the Bengals players and also made violent gestures. And if you recall what Tomlin said on that issue, you can confirm why HC was tired of his frequent violations: “He’s just gotta grow up, man.” This was what Tomlin said after the game. So, it’s not DK Metcalf or Mike Tomlin behind dumping George Pickens, but the WR himself.