Stephen A. Smith rips Steelers roster after George Pickens trade: ‘You’ve got to be kidding me’

The Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to trade away talented fourth-year receiver George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys for a third-round 2026 draft pick before the sun even rose Wednesday morning. After ruminating on the move for a few hours, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith — a self-described Steelers fan and Cowboys hater — went off on the move during Wednesday morning’s First Take.

And, to no one’s surprise, Smith directed — albeit somewhat playfully — much of his ire at fellow ESPN analyst and former Steelers defensive back Ryan Clark, before calling out Pittsburgh’s ineffective front office for still not having an answer at quarterback.

“Before I start laughing about the Cowboys, let me state for the record on national television, I’ve very, very displeased with my man Ryan Clark. I blame him for what’s going on in Pittsburgh. I blame Ryan Clark. … I would expect Ryan Clark to have more influence than this,” Smith began Wednesday’s show, which also included Clark on the dais. “I’m sorry, I understand that George Pickens can be a headache, I understand it. I understand the two unsportsmanlike penalties last year made Mike Tomlin call him out and talk about how he had to grow up. I understand he had the patches under his eyes that said ‘always f-in’ open’ and stuff like that which riled them up.

“I get all of those things. I get the details, OK? … But damn, how many years do we have to wait for you guys to find a quarterback? You have Lamar Jackson in the division. You have Joe Burrow in the division. And you’re bringing us Mason Rudolph and Skyler Thompson? You’ve got to be kidding me,” Smith continued. “This is what we have to look forward to? … It’s driving me nuts. I’m blaming (Clark) for now one for everything that goes wrong with the Steelers because you’re supposed to have a better impact than that.”

Jokes aside, it’s clear trading away a young talent like Pickens — who was the Steelers’ unquestioned No. 1 receiver over his first three seasons in the NFL while averaging 947 yards and four touchdowns — won’t do much to improve Pittsburgh’s offensive question marks ahead of the 2025 season. And while they added two-time Pro Bowl receiver DK Metcalf in an offseason trade, the Steelers’ decision to deal Pickens will have Pittsburgh fans questioning the decision-making for months to come.

“All I know is that if Pickens was behaving correctly, they wouldn’t even be thinking about losing him,” Smith added. “They would’ve had him with Metcalf, and ultimately, they would’ve added a quarterback and things would’ve been better. But somebody named Ryan Clark didn’t do their job and so that’s the problem.”

ESPN’s Matt Miller calls Steelers roster ‘worst’ of Mike Tomlin era after George Pickens trade

The Dallas Cowboys made a splash Wednesday, acquiring receiver George Pickens from the Pittsburgh Steelers. For Dallas, it’s a much-needed shot of star power to its receiver core.

But for Pittsburgh, the absence of Pickens adds more question marks to its offense and the roster as a whole, ESPN‘s Matt Miller said.

“This is the worst Steelers roster of the Mike Tomlin era,” Miller posted before 8 am ET Wednesday morning.

This is Tomlin’s 19th season at the helm in Pittsburgh. Tomlin has notably never finished under .500; that appears to be in serious jeopardy this season.

Let’s start with the receiver room. The Steelers acquired receiver DK Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks, which does offset the loss of Pickens. But beyond Metcalf, it’s slim pickings: Calvin Austin III, Robert Woods, Roman Wilson, Scotty Miller, Ben Skowronek and Brandon Johnson.

Austin did haul in 36 catches for 548 yards and four touchdowns last season. But Wilson, Miller, Skowronek, and Johnson combined for 11 catches for 47 yards and zero scores. Woods, the elder statesman of the group, had just 20 catches for 203 yards.

— On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this report.