The Pittsburgh Steelers lost their Week 5 matchup to the Dallas Cowboys 20-17, marking their second consecutive loss. And while not winning is what fans are most concerned with, there was an underlying story during this game – the lack of George Pickens.

The Steelers’ top receiver played just 34 snaps, compared to 47 for Van Jefferson and 44 for Calvin Austin. Pickens was also showing very little effort on several routes, half jogging during plays and clearly being disinterested in what was taking place on the field.

This has led to many, myself included, to speculate that not only is Pickens in the doghouse, but the Steelers could be ready to move on from the former second-round pick.

Best case realistic scenario for the Steelers moving forward:

-Trade for an adult at WR to provide stability in the short term

-See if any team is gullible enough to fork up a mid round pick for 14

-Play Roman Wilson next weekend

-Attack the room aggressively in the offseason

— Derrick (@Steelers_DB) October 7, 2024

Why would you intentionally leave your best offensive player off the field in a close game where you could get to 4-1 if you aren’t disciplining him and/or preparing to move him? And this is far from the beginning of the drama surrounding Pickens. Last year, he cleaned his social media of anything Steelers related, which caused a lot of conversation, unneeded attention, and drama. During the loss to the Patriots last December, Pickens through multiple on-field tantrums. After the game Minkah Fitzpatrick had this to say:

“I think too many people don’t wanna toil for it. They just wanna walk out here and think that they’re gonna make plays… I think we need to check that mentality.”

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who he was talking about. Fast forward to today, Pat Freiermuth not-so-subtly called out Pickens, as well.

“I trust the coaches to know what they’re doing,” Frerimuth said. “Everyone can bitch and complain about getting a lot of targets but it’s stuff you do without the ball – that’s what leaders do, that’s what good teammates do. I work my ass off regardless…”

With the Steelers reportedly prepared to make an aggressive offer for Davante Adams, according to Dianna Russini, who’s to say they won’t also look to move Pickens as well? Especially if they just don’t see him ever maturing and have given up on that ever coming to fruition.