George Pickens quickly proving Steelers made the right move

Jarrett Bailey

•
George Pickens quickly proving Steelers made the right move image

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

George Pickens has become one of the best receivers in the NFL in his first season with the Dallas Cowboys. He is second in the NFL in receiving yards, and his eight touchdown receptions are tied for third in the NFL. And while the former second-round pick out of Georgia has spent 2025 lighting the league on fire, he may have finally showed exactly why the Pittsburgh Steelers were so willing to send him to Dallas back in May.

The Cowboys suffered a 44-30 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thursday night, sending their record to 6-6-1 on the year, and giving them slim chances at making the postseason. In that game, Pickens looked uninterested on multiple occasions. Jogging through routes, not diving for a late deep ball that could have been hauled in if he gave the right effort, and making it clear with his lack of effort when he was unlikely to get a ball thrown his way.

This caused Richard Sherman to go off on the Georgia product in the Prime Video postgame show.

“George Pickens throughout the game - especially late in the game - just looked uninterested,” Sherman said. “Uninterested in playing football. And that’s what you can’t have if you’re gonna be a superstar..."

Pickens responded to Sherman via his Instagram story.

"This is a team game lmao I'm not the only one on the team," Pickens wrote. "Stop becoming a analyst and talking about one player when he playin a teams game. Lots of [s—] has to go right for Explosive. Plays... And it's funny cause I thought former players would know that such as RICHARD P— A— SHERMAN WHO [BY THE WAY] AIN'T [S—] WITHOUT THE LEGION OF BOOM WE ALL REMEMBER SAN FRANCISCO BROTHER."

And it's things like this that made the Pittsburgh Steelers perfectly okay sending Pickens away, despite not having a clear No. 2 option on the roster to DK Metcalf. Pickens' time in Pittsburgh was laced with several on-field outbursts, social media rants, passive aggressive acts like removing all things Steelers related from his social media, and similar lack of effort we saw on Thursday.

Talent has never been the question or concern with Pickens, it's when he refuses to try and there is seemingly no reaching him that drives fans insane and makes him expendable, to a point. And while he is in the midst of a potential All-Pro season, the headaches that come with him stack up through time.

More NFL news:

News Correspondent