The George Pickens trade keeps looking rough for the Steelers, and Sunday’s news out of Arizona and Houston only poured salt in the wound.
The Cardinals sending struggling wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. to the Texans put another harsh spotlight on what Pittsburgh got back when it moved Pickens. On paper, the Steelers had reasons to make the deal - Pickens had become a distraction in the locker room - but the return has aged badly, and the latest wide receiver move around the league makes that even harder to ignore.
What stands out now is the value gap. Houston reportedly gave up a second-round pick for Harrison Jr., a return that looks stronger than what Pittsburgh received for Pickens.
That’s why the trade has come to feel so lopsided. Pickens was already regarded as the better player when he was dealt, and since landing in Dallas, he has only reinforced that view with the kind of production that makes the Cowboys look like the clear winners.
The way the deal has unfolded has also put Steelers general manager Omar Khan under a brighter, less flattering spotlight. The source of the criticism is simple: Pittsburgh traded away the better wideout and didn’t get close to matching that value in return. Looking back, it’s been framed as if the Steelers essentially moved Pickens for Drew Allar and a pick swap, with that pick swap later turning into other moves between the two teams earlier this past summer.
Khan has already drawn plenty of heat lately, and this only adds to it.
Pickens spent three seasons in Pittsburgh and established himself as a true No. 1 option for the Steelers. In that span, he averaged 58 catches, 947 yards and four touchdowns per season. Even before the trade, he was seen as a physical freak at wide receiver, and his growth in Dallas has only strengthened that reputation.
Harrison Jr., meanwhile, has not lived up to the early promise that surrounded him. His rookie season numbers stacked up well next to Pickens’, but the production hasn’t held. His struggles last season continued into this year and eventually sparked nonstop trade speculation.
So while the Pickens move once made sense from a locker-room standpoint, the football side of it keeps getting harder to defend. Sunday’s Harrison Jr. trade didn’t change the Steelers’ decision - it just made the return look even worse.
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