What Should The Steelers Do With George Pickens After Acquiring DK Metcalf?

The Pittsburgh Steelers need many positions. They need a QB, DL, WR, CB, and possibly a running back.

On Sunday night, they took care of one position. In a blockbuster trade, the Steelers acquired star wideout DK Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks. The Steelers reportedly signed Metcalf to a five-year, $150 million deal, making him one of the NFL’s highest-paid receivers.

TRADE: Seahawks trading DK Metcalf to the Steelers for a 2025 second-round pick.

Metcalf is signing a five-year, $150 million contract with Pittsburgh. (via @tompelissero, @rapsheet) pic.twitter.com/fefRvz59Ud

— NFL (@NFL) March 9, 2025

Metcalf helps fill a glaring need for a WR1 for the Steelers. He remains in his prime at age 27. He is a physical receiver and a deep ball threat.

The question now is what do the Steelers do with WR George Pickens?

What Should The Steelers Do With George Pickens

The Steelers have two options with Pickens:

• 1. Keep him in 2025 and pair him with Metcalf
• 2. Trade him before the 2025 NFL Draft and select a WR to pair with Metcalf

Keep Pickens In 2025 & Pair With Metcalf

The first option is to pair him with Metcalf for the 2025 season and see how the tandem plays together. Pittsburgh has insinuated they want to sign Pickens to a longer deal but the move to acquire Metcalf says otherwise.

Pickens can become a free agent after the 2025 season. The Steelers can wait and see how he performs with Metcalf before deciding what to do with him. If the pair work well together, the Steelers can then decide if they want to sign Pickens to a deal or let him test free agency next year.

It is difficult to know the market for Pickens or how much to pay him. He is super talented but incredibly immature and cannot be relied upon until proven otherwise. If Pickens can show he has matured and wants to remain with the Steelers, the 2025 season is a prove-it year.

Trade Pickens Before 2025 NFL Draft

The second option the Steelers have is to trade George Pickens before the 2025 NFL Draft. It is hard to know what compensation they can receive for Pickens. While talented, again, very immature. Teams will not want to give up a first or second-round pick for him. Metcalf got a second-round pick but he is a proven commodity.

If the Steelers do decide to trade Pickens, this once again creates a need for the WR position as they will be in a similar spot as last year with just one proven WR and a bunch of unproven guys who shouldn’t start.

This is why if the Steelers decide to trade Pickens, selecting a WR in the 2025 NFL Draft would be mandatory.

If the Steelers want to see what the market is for Pickens, that would be wise. If a team is willing to give up a second-round pick for the talented wideout, the Steelers should make the trade.

The Chicago Bears one time traded a second-round pick for WR Chase Claypool, so anything is possible.

This is a difficult decision the Steelers must make.

Acquiring Metcalf Does Not Solve Biggest Elephant In The Room

Acquiring Metcalf was a great move by Omar Khan and the Steelers. They needed to boost the WR room and they did that.

However, this does not solve the biggest need the Steelers have. They need a Quarterback.

No matter who the Steelers bring in, it will not improve the team until they find a long-term solution at the QB position.

Unfortunately for the Steelers, this is not the year to find a long-term solution at QB. The QB draft class is fairly weak outside of Cam Ward.

No available QB via free agency is a long-term solution for the Steelers.

Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, Sam Darnold, Aaron Rodgers, or anyone else available are just bridge QBs.

The best option is to sign a QB to a two-year deal and with a much better QB draft class in 2026, select a QB in round one in the 2026 NFL Draft… which will be held in Pittsburgh.