If you weren’t sure about the trading of George Pickens then perhaps the receiver’s own words will help.
Traded last week for two draft picks, the Pittsburgh Steelers parted ways with Pickens not because he couldn’t catch the ball. They moved on because he routinely missed meetings, refused to block at times and often gave as much effort as a rock holding a door open. Perhaps most importantly, the Steelers had zero intention of giving him a second contract so therefore trading him now was the best option.
Pickens spoke out today for the first time and it was about what I expected.
And did the message get through to him? Nope. Because of Christmas Day, hosting the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs, Pickens was so late to the game, the inactive players had already been announced. As far as I’m concerned that was when the final straw came and went.
To put it bluntly, you don’t win with guys like George Pickens. You can win in spite of them but more often than not, they are one of the reasons you don’t win more games. Completely missing meetings… A total lack of effort… I won’t miss George Pickens. If he goes on to become an all-pro wide receiver then so be it. Good on him. For all of the issues I may have with Mike Tomlin, I respect his handling of guys like this.
They took a chance on Pickens and it failed. It won’t be the first time and it won’t be the last but let’s hope they learned something here. It’s clear that Pickens hasn’t learned anything.
