The Pittsburgh Steelers have traded away some well-known names in the 2024 NFL offseason.
Kenny Pickett and Diontae Johnson were both traded since the new league year began.
Johnson’s contract situation had the potential to become a problem for the team as his deal was set to end after 2024.
Meanwhile, Pickett was not happy about being benched after the team traded for Russell Wilson.
Rather than managing potential issues, the team chose to simply move on from both players.
A Steelers insider believes George Pickens needs to take note of the team's offseason moves.
During a March 19 fan chat, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo was asked if the Steelers would trade Pickens if he requested one after dealing Johnson and Pickett.
Fittipaldo said the moves should serve as a warning to Pickens to change his behavior if he wants to stay in Pittsburgh.
“Sure there is. But Pickens is the one who is on notice, not the Steelers. If he wants to play with the team in the long term, he’s going to have [to] improve his behavior.”
Issues With Pickens’ Behavior
Based just on his performance, 2023 should have been a great year for Pickens.
He made big improvements from his rookie year and finished his second season with 65 catches for 1140 yards despite some bad quarterback play.
Unfortunately, he didn’t handle the bad quarterback play well on the sidelines. There were multiple instances of him displaying his frustrations with the offense on the sideline.
He was eventually called out publicly called out by Mike Tomlin over his behavior.
Pickens also had an incident incident that got some attention where he did not block for Jaylen Warren on a touchdown run.
Things got better at the end of the season. Pickens was actually praised by Mason Rudolph for the way that he handled not being targeted against the Ravens in Week 18.
Hopefully he’ll continue in that positive direction during the 2024 season because the Steelers haven’t been shy about moving on from wide receivers in the past.
Steelers’ History With Wide Receivers
The recent trades aren’t the only thing that should have Pickens thinking the Steelers might not hesitate to trade him if they see an issue with his behavior in the future.
The Steelers also have a history of not retaining receivers once their rookie contracts are over.
Plaxico Burress left for the Giants after his rookie deal ended.
The same was true for Mike Wallace, who signed with the Dolphins after his rookie deal was done.
Emmanuel Sanders only got one extra year out of the Steelers
Juju Smith-Schuster also only got a one-year deal from the Steelers after his rookie contract.
Johnson had signed a two-year extension with Pittsburgh, but that only came after a “hold in” during the final year of his rookie contract. Now he has been traded before the second year of the deal.
The Steelers trading Johnson is just a reminder that the team doesn’t get attached to wide receivers, even ones they’ve drafted and had success with.
We’re not far from Pickens being ready for a new contract of his own. How he handles the 2024 season could determine whether he’s the latest in a long line of talented receivers that the Steelers decided not to make a long-term commitment to.
