File – The Pittsburgh Steelers George Pickens recipient meets journalists after an NFL football match against Baltimore Ravens in Pittsburgh, Sunday October 8, 2023. (AP photo / Gene J. Puskar, file)
Pittsburgh (AP) – The Director General of Steelers of Pittsburgh, Omar Khan, did not intend to negotiate the Large George Pickens recipient.
Then, the Dallas Cowboys called with an offer that Khan could not let pass, and after three years to try to balance the dazzling behavior of Pickens on the ground with his petulance, Khan decided that it was time to move on.
Pittsburgh sent Pickens to Dallas Wednesday in exchange for a third round choice in the 2026 draft and a fifth round in 2027. Cowboys obtain a sixth round choice in two years.
“We just talked about it, you know, (and had) a lot of serious conversations, honest conversations,” Khan said on Friday. “And we just felt that a new start for both parties was the right thing.”
Pickens was about to enter the last year of the recruit agreement he signed after being selected in the second round in 2022. Although he made 174 passes for 2,841 and 12 affected on three seasons, he also found himself making headlines for something other than taking football, whether fighting the field opponents.
Khan refused to describe the mandate of Pickens as a “disappointment”, stressing that there have been many exciting moments when Pickens flashed his bizarre capacity.
The steelers head coach Mike Tomlin almost uniformly supported Pickens despite the missteps, except for an opportunity last season when Tomlin said it was time for Pickens “to grow” after bringing two penalties for taunting during a victory on Cincinnati last December.
Khan refused to speculate if Pickens would have held (or even maintained) during the organized team activities and the mini-camp, an external tactical star the second TJ Watt and the former Large recipient Diontae Johnson has done in the past.
While the club had planned to go to the season with Pickens and recently acquired DK Metcalf has teamed up, Khan remains confident in the group behind Metcalf, who includes Calvin Austin III, Roman Wilson, Scott Miller and the veteran Robert Woods, who signed last week.
The team could also explore the introduction of another veteran before the start of the training camp, one of the many variables at stake for Pittsburgh.
The Steelers remain in a detention scheme with regard to the quarter-rear MVP Quadruple Aaron Rodgers, which continues to weigh if it is necessary to come back for a 21st season. The club has not established a firm deadline and all the options remain on the table not only in quarter, but elsewhere.
“We want to get good players, good people, and you know that we are continuing a championship,” said Khan. “And each decision we take is based on trying to win a championship not only in the future, but this year. I mean, we focused on the test of winning a championship this year.”
