George Pickens trade: Louis Riddick reveals why move could be 'addition by subtraction' for Steelers

As the Pittsburgh Steelers continue to wait for an answer at quarterback, they made a major move at receiver, sending George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys. For Dallas, it solves the problem of a WR2 opposite CeeDee Lamb – but for Pittsburgh, it creates more questions.

The Steelers traded for DK Metcalf this offseason and signed him to a lucrative contract extension. The thinking was Pickens would play opposite the former Seattle Seahawks star, but he’ll instead head to the Cowboys in exchange for draft compensation.

However, ESPN’s Louis Riddick broke down why the Steelers would give up a receiver despite needing more help at the position. He wondered if the franchise felt it was time to move on amid concerns about Pickens’ focus, instead opting for an “addition by subtraction” approach.

“There comes a point in time where it’s just not a tenable situation anymore,” Riddick said Wednesday on NFL Live. “They just feel like the talent does not warrant them tolerating whatever issues that the player was causing. They just say, look, it doesn’t really matter what it looks like on paper. To us, we feel as though this could potentially be an ‘addition by subtraction’ type of situation. And hey, they get to see guys on their football team like Calvin Austin, they get to see guys like Roman Wilson now in the offseason being the fact that he missed all of his rookie season in ’24 with that hamstring injury. They get to see them a lot more than we do.

“So maybe Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith really do feel as though, ‘We’ll be able to make do. It may not look exactly the same – yeah, George Pickens is a wonderful talent. But when we look at it in its totality, this is what’s better for the football team,’ although everyone who is a fan of the Steelers and everybody who studies the Steelers from the outside looking in goes, this does not make sense, especially considering the situation at quarterback.”

Pickens appeared in 14 games last season as he missed some time with an injury. During that time, he hauled in 59 receptions for 900 yards and three touchdowns as a key piece of the Steelers’ passing attack. That came after an impressive second year in the NFL in 2023 when he had a career-high 1,140 yards and five touchdowns. His 18.1 yards per reception led the league that season.