George Pickens took the high road earlier this week when reporters asked him about being traded by the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the star wide receiver let some of his frustrations fly in a social media comment that was quickly deleted.
Pickens, who was traded to the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday, blasted the Steelers via Instagram on Sunday. He made the comment in response to a video from Prospect Media that showed Pittsburgh cornerback Beanie Bishop and linebacker Payton Wilson discussing the Pickens trade.
While the two players said they were surprised, Wilson defended the Steelers’ front office and their long-term vision.
“The front office isn’t just making moves for, like, this year. That’s kind of what I’ve had to learn. They really trying to stack year on top of year on top of year,” Wilson said. “Obviously, us being in it, we want to win a Super Bowl every single year, but it’s probably a little different for the front office. They make this trade like, okay, we can set up for this pick this year and this pick this year.”
Pickens views the situation differently. The former Georgia star said the Steelers are just cheap and do not want to pay players.
“They the cheapest organization. Ain’t no stacking year after year they gone let them n***as go too soon as it’s time Lmaoo (sic),” Pickens wrote in a comment (edited by LBS for profanity).
The comment was deleted, but you can see a screenshot here.
What Pickens’ criticism fails to take into account is that the Steelers just signed D.K. Metcalf to a 4-year, $132 million extension after acquiring him in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks. Pittsburgh’s front office had no problem paying top dollar for a receiver. They just didn’t want to pay Pickens.
Though he flashed excellent playmaking ability, Pickens became a headache during his three seasons with the Steelers. Mike Tomlin publicly said that Pickens needed to grow up after more than one on-field incident.
There have also been reports that Pickens did not fulfill some of his responsibilities off the field. All of that likely factored into why the Steelers chose to trade Pickens rather than giving him a new contract.
If the Steelers thought Pickens could be their No. 1 wide receiver for years to come, they never would have traded for Metcalf, let alone sign him to a massive extension. It is convenient for Pickens to say his former team just doesn’t pay players, when in reality they preferred to commit to a different player at his position.
