As a rule, the Pittsburgh Steelers negotiate contract extensions with their top players in the offseason heading into the final year of their contract. This is the position the Steelers find themselves in with wide receiver George Pickens but Pickens’ production and behavior have muddied the waters of his future with this team.
Steelers writer Brian DeFabo wrote recently about the latest incident with Pickens and we have to admit this one, paired with everything else that has happened this season gave us pause.
Pickens sat out the next two games with a hamstring injury. When he was finally healthy, how did he respond? By showing up late for the Christmas Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Tomlin asks players to report to games at least two hours before kickoff. On Dec. 25, Pickens walked through the media entrance an hour and 25 minutes before kickoff. That was after inactive players were announced.
At this point, the Steelers are at a crossroads with Pickens and it feels like we’ve been here before. Head coach Mike Tomlin has tolerated this sort of thing from wide receivers before. Pickens is going to be eyeing a contract extension this offseason and whether or not he gets it will tell us plenty about where Tomlin stands with him.
