Did Steelers come close to trading WR George Pickens during 2025 NFL Draft?

While stories linked Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens with the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft, Pickens remained with the Steelers through the completion of the player-selection process. 

During a Monday appearance on Pittsburgh radio station 102.5 WDVE, Steelers reporter Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette addressed whether or not the club nearly traded Pickens late last week. 

"I don't think they came close at all," Dulac said about a possible Pickens deal, as shared by Matthew Marczi of Steelers Depot. "I don't think they want to right now. If you trade George Pickens, now you're basically back to where you were before you had DK Metcalf. So no, I think their approach is to go into the regular season and have those two and add whatever you can..."

Pickens is in the final year of his rookie deal and may/may not have been hoping to be traded before Pittsburgh acquired Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks and then signed him to a five-year contract worth $150M earlier this offseason. As much as Pickens has given head coach Mike Tomlin headaches over each of the past three NFL campaigns, Pittsburgh didn't select a single receiver during this year's draft. 

"I think if they drafted a receiver," Dulac continued, "that might have heightened [the Steelers' interest in trading Pickens] a little bit. But I don't think they intend to trade him today. Now, I'm not gonna tell you they're not gonna trade him before the November deadline."

Per Josh Carney of Steelers Depot, NFL insider Dianna Russini of The Athletic said on the latest edition of her "Scoop City" podcast that the Cowboys "discussed" a trade for Pickens "right before the draft and during the draft." However, Russini added that Pittsburgh shipping Pickens out of town this spring or summer is "probably at this point not going to be something we see" happen.

That's understandable, as the Steelers reportedly "firmly believe that" 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers will soon officially join the club. Signing Rodgers would be a win-now move for any team, which makes trading Pickens when he can't be immediately replaced via a draft selection a silly move for the Steelers.