Silly as it might sound, the NFL lives in a social media world. And there’s no more common tactic for a player to express discontent with a team or situation than on Twitter or Instagram. WR George Pickens seems to be doing so with Pittsburgh, recently unfollowing the Steelers’ Instagram account.
His Instagram currently does not show him following the team.
Compare that to a screenshot we took on March 9, the day of the DK Metcalf trade, in which Pickens is shown following the Steelers’ official account. It’s not clear when he stopped following the team.
Trade rumors around Pickens have swirled and picked up in the past 48 hours. Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz issued the strongest report yet, noting the Steelers have made and taken calls about Pickens. That report has been disputed by other reporters like The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, but word may have made its way to Pickens. Unfollowing could be his way of reacting to the story.
During Tuesday’s pre-draft press conference, GM Omar Khan hinted George Pickens was in the team’s 2025 plans and expressed excitement over pairing him with DK Metcalf. But Khan once seemed to “slip” a contract extension reference to WR Diontae Johnson days before trading him in 2024.
Publicly, Pickens has kept a low profile this offseason. He’s continued to train with well-known coach James Everett Jr., better known as “The Route God.”
He is the second Steeler this month to create waves on Instagram, joining EDGE T.J. Watt, who posted a photo of him holding up a “peace/deuces” sign in a captionless IG story, leading to speculation he was unhappy over his looming contract extension status. While Watt’s story was vague, Pickens’ move here is easier to interpret.
Pickens’ situation will be one to watch this weekend. Receiver-needy teams navigating a weak draft class have every incentive to call about Pickens. A deal that’s too good to pass up could have Pittsburgh agree, though they’d be left needing to find a way to replace Pickens much better than how they tried to replace Johnson in 2024.
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