Insider discusses how Steelers players felt about George Pickens before trade to Cowboys

It now seems that Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and wide receiver George Pickens were both ready for the divorce that became official when the Steelers traded Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys ahead of the second weekend of May. 

During a Thursday appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show," NFL insider and ESPN personality Peter Schrager touched upon how others inside the Pittsburgh locker room felt about Pickens. 

"He wasn't a disliked player in that building," Schrager said, as shared by Jake Brockhoff of Steelers Depot. 

Back in March, Steelers long snapper Christian Kuntz and cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. publicly defended Pickens after the 24-year-old caused numerous headaches for Tomlin from the fall of 2023 through this past January. After Pickens allegedly showed up late for Pittsburgh's 2024 Christmas Day game, Steelers reporter Mike DeFabo of The Athletic noted that the 2022 second-round draft pick was known for being "late for practice often" and for lacking "a certain level of professionalism." 

Nevertheless, Schrager suggested that Pittsburgh players would've welcomed Pickens back with open arms for at least one more season. 

"Now," Schrager added about Pickens, "he was late for certain things, and there were issues on gameday on Sundays with him getting frustrated with the quarterback play and wanting the ball. But, to a man, everyone in Pittsburgh was like, 'He shows up. He works hard. He blocks his a-- off, and he can still play.' I don't think this is one of those things where he was a total diva, and we couldn't stand him and Tomlin couldn't coach him. I didn't get that read talking to the Steelers people." 

Pickens is on track to play for Dallas while in the final year of his rookie contract, and it was clear before the trade became official that Pittsburgh had little interest in locking the veteran of three seasons down via the type of multi-year extension he'll hope to earn at some point. 

For an article published on Wednesday, DeFabo wrote that moving on from the mercurial talent was "a necessary and perhaps inevitable move" for a team that, simply put, believed Pickens would never grow up.