“I think they’re going to be exciting for everyone to watch,” Khan added. Pickens may yet execute a hold in entering the final year of his rookie contract, as has been rumored by team beat writers for a few months. But this does throw some cold water on the idea that they’d move Pickens to get back into the second or third round of the draft on Friday.

Schefter came up with a long list of players who could be expendable on rookie deals — for the most part it’s the failed prospects you’d expect — but Pickens caught our eye. It sure feels like Pickens and D.K. Metcalf ran the same route tree last season, and his football character has been considered an issue by team beat writers. Not to mention the fact that Pickens his entering the final year of his contract and we’ve had beat writer speculation about a hold-in. It makes sense that a team that didn’t find it’s preferred first-wave receiver in the draft could dial back and pick up Pickens for a late Day 2 or early Day 3 pick. The talent is certainly there.

To be specific, DeFabo writes “if the Steelers think they can simply have Pickens play out his final season, they might need to realize that they aren’t the only ones who determine where things go from here.” DeFabo has already written before this offseason about how the Steelers should trade Pickens, but the idea of Pickens potentially holding in is new. Pickens is entering the final year of his rookie deal and, like the Brandon Aiyuk saga this past August, it probably makes sense for Pickens to push every lever to get an extension before playing in 2025. We don’t consider this a major wart on Pickens fantasy value just yet, but it is something to keep an eye on.

Beyond George Pickens, who had 900 receiving yards and three touchdowns over 14 games in 2024, the Steelers had precious little in the way of viable wideouts. Van Jefferson and Calvin Austin alternated in operating as the No. 2 receiver for Pittsburgh. “I think we have positions in the wide receiver room we’re going to have to address,” Rooney said. “I think the wide receiver room is an area we’ve got to look at improving.” Rooney’s comments might mean the Steelers will pursue Chris Godwin or Tee Higgins in free agency this spring, or trade up in the NFL Draft for a top-end receiver. Any wideout addition would likely ding Pickens’ target domination in the run-first Steelers offense.