The Pittsburgh Steelers cut the cord on one of their best players.
George Pickens is now a Dallas Cowboy, and while that will most definitely hurt the Steelers’ offense, it seems like Mike Tomlin is relieved.
If anything, he might feel like he’s someone else’s problem right now.
According to a report by NFL insider Mark Kaboly, Tomlin was the one who pushed for Pickens to be traded:
“What’s surprising to me is, from everything that I’ve heard, Mike Tomlin was the one that was in front of this all,” Kaboly said. “It wasn’t [owner] Art [Rooney II]. It wasn’t [general manager] Omar [Khan]. It was Mike, and then the organizational decision of—it’s time to move on.”
This isn’t much of a surprise.
Tomlin is considered to be a player’s coach, but he’s been fooled way too many times in the past.
The Steelers have been great at drafting and developing wide receivers in recent years, but they’ve also watched all of them crash out and become a toxic force in the locker room.
Tomlin has been around enough high-maintenance wide receivers with a big ego to realize when trouble is brewing, and as good a player as Pickens is, he simply might not be worth the headache.
He was already acting out while being on a rookie deal, so one can only imagine how he’ll carry himself once he gets his first big-money contract.
Pickens threw tantrums when his team was winning because he wasn’t getting the ball.
He then unfollowed the Steelers on social media after he had a bad game.
The talent is most definitely there, but it’s easy to understand why Tomlin just didn’t want to go through the same thing over and over and chose to move on from him instead.
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