The Steelers’ decision to trade George Pickens to the Cowboys left many scratching their heads — why didn’t they do it during the 2025 NFL Draft?
Rumors and speculation ran rampant from several inside sources about a potential draft-day trade that fell through, but insider Gerry Dulac of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette consistently shot down such a notion. Here’s when Dulac said the trade actually began to take shape:
“The deal didn’t start to come about until a couple days ago. [The Pickens trade] was not seriously discussed on draft day.”
While it may seem hard to believe — as insiders reported the Cowboys were interested in acquiring Pickens during the draft — it would make sense that nothing came to fruition, as Dulac stated, because there were no serious offers on the table.
It doesn’t change the fact that if no serious or ideal offers existed at the 2025 NFL Draft, the Steelers should have waited until the 2026 offseason to franchise tag and trade away their star wide receiver.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Insider reveals when George Pickens trade talks began
