I like the look of George Pickens in Dallas. Playing opposite CeeDee Lamb, I expect there will be some weeks that he steps up in a big way. He’s a top-10 kind of receiver when he’s on.
Pickens went over 125 receiving yards four times in the 2023 season. He’s got the speed to get deep, and long arms to pull in contested balls.
At the same time, the Steelers have had a lot of issues trying to manage Pickens. He’s been a pain in the rear, apparently, to the point where they were happy to get rid of him. Some of the same kind of issues swirled around Pickens when he was at Georgia.
Five other times in the Mike Tomlin era, the Steelers have chosen to move on from similar types of wide receivers. And in all five of those previous cases, the wide receivers weren’t nearly as good for their new team as they were for the Steelers.
Of those five, only one played in more than 10 career games for the new team. That was Santonio Holmes, who logged four modest years with the Jets (sneaking over 50 catches twice).
Antonio Brown never played a down for the Raiders. Diontae Johnson lasted seven games in Carolina, while Chase Claypool lasted about a year for the Bears (playing in 10 games). Martavis Bryant played in eight games for the Raiders before running afoul of the league’s substance abuse program. The Steelers have had a great feel for when to get rid of guys.
Pickens is a little different in that he’s going to a team with a good quarterback and is in the final year of his contract. That could help motivate him to be on his best behavior (for a year, anyway).
| TRADED RECEIVERS / LAST YEAR IN PITTSBURGH | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | G | No | Yds | Avg | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2009 | Santonio Holmes | 16 | 79 | 1248 | 15.8 | 5 | 234.4 | 14 |
| 2017 | Martavis Bryant | 15 | 50 | 603 | 12.1 | 3 | 132.5 | 49 |
| 2018 | Antonio Brown | 15 | 104 | 1297 | 12.5 | 15 | 323.7 | 5 |
| 2021 | Chase Claypool | 15 | 59 | 860 | 14.6 | 2 | 166.6 | 38 |
| 2023 | Diontae Johnson | 13 | 51 | 717 | 14.1 | 5 | 152.7 | 46 |
| 2024 | • George Pickens | 14 | 59 | 900 | 15.3 | 3 | 166.4 | 42 |
Note: Claypool was traded during the 2022 season. In the Pittsburgh chart, you’re seeing his stats in his final full season with the Steelers (2021). In the chart below, you’re seeing his numbers from his first full season away from Pittsburgh (2023). In 2022, he played the first half of the year with the Steelers and the second half with the Bears.
| TRADED RECEIVERS / FIRST YEAR WITH NEW TEAMS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | G | No | Yds | Avg | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2010 | Santonio Holmes, NYJ | 12 | 52 | 746 | 14.3 | 6 | 164.3 | 39 |
| 2018 | Martavis Bryant, Oak. | 8 | 19 | 266 | 14.0 | 0 | 47.9 | 120 |
| 2019 | Antonio Brown, Oak.-N.E. | 1 | 4 | 56 | 14.0 | 1 | 16.1 | 154 |
| 2023 | Chase Claypool, Chi.-Mia. | 12 | 8 | 77 | 9.6 | 1 | 21.7 | 155 |
| 2024 | Diontae Johnson, Car.-Bal.-Hou. | 12 | 33 | 375 | 11.4 | 3 | 89.1 | 86 |
| 2025 | • George Pickens, Dall. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
—Ian Allan