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2 hours ago
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The Pittsburgh Steelers finally rid themselves of a perpetual problem when they traded wide receiver George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys.
Granted, the Pickens trade leaves the Steelers short at wide receiver, no matter what general manager Omar Khan might say. However, per several reports, things had gotten past the point of no return in Pittsburgh.
Beat reporter Mark Kaboly gave us the details of what led to the Steelers' decision to trade Pickens, and it's clear Pittsburgh had to make a move before his antics led to an issue in the locker room.
Kaboly also revealed that there wasn't much interest in Pickens, and there doesn't appear to be much of an issue inside the organization with cutting the troubled receiver loose.
Here are the key points from Kaboly:
• Significant locker room guys got fed up with Pickens' antics and quickly got turned off by him for multiple reasons, I was told.
• Some felt that it would be counterproductive to keep him around, even with his unique talent. They felt the locker room could turn toxic.
• Not many teams were interested in trading for Pickens, making it difficult for the Steelers to get market value.
• The Steelers wouldn't have traded him for anything less than a 3rd-round pick -- something that wasn't offered until after the draft.
• Not many were broken up within the organization that Pickens got traded.
Kaboly isn't the only Steelers reporter dishing on the issues Pickens had.
Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the former second-round pick compiled a "litany of violations."
"It was so bad that they made the move right now and didn't even wait till later," Dulac said on 102.5 WDVE. "The litany of violations apparently were endless. I remember one of the players telling me last year during the season that the people internally don't even realize half the violations he commits."
What were those violations, you ask?
Well, it has been reported that Pickens showed up late to work on several occasions, and even to the team's Christmas Day game last season.
Former NFL wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh also heard that Pickens was late to get on the team plane and bus multiple times.
“George Pickens had stepped over and crossed the line a bit too many times and I know people that play with the Steelers. He’d be late for the team plane that would be flying out to away games multiple times. He’d be late to get on the team bus and they had enough of it,” Houshmandzadeh said on the Up On Game podcast.
On the surface, it would seem odd for the Steelers to trade Pickens, but when you dig a bit deeper, it's pretty clear why the team had to do what it did. The fact that Pittsburgh was able to get a third-round pick for a toxic wide receiver who is entering the final year of his contract was a definite win.
If the Cowboys are smart, they'll wait out the entire year before even considering an extension for Pickens. However, even if he's on his best behavior all season, there's simply no telling if he'll revert back to who he was during his days in Pittsburgh.
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