It’s Wednesday. You had questions. I have answers. And we have some unexpected news to break down. Let’s dive in …
From Brandon Loree (@Brandoniswrite): From the outside, it looked like George Pickens was a problem for Pittsburgh, but did you ever get the sense he was an issue for the Steelers inside the locker room? A question of if the perception is in fact a reality.
Brandon, it was bumpy, for sure. Pickens can be an issue when he’s not getting the ball, and I imagine that he’ll be in a contract year in 2025, playing for life-changing money after his trade to the Dallas Cowboys is finalized. But first-year Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer’s strength is culture-building, and the hope here would be he’d be able to establish an environment in which someone such as Pickens will buy in and thrive.
The guys in Pittsburgh, for what it’s worth, did believe Pickens’s heart was in the right place the past couple of years, even when his frustration with the direction of the offense, or more specifically his role in it, led to emotional outbursts or uncharacteristic drops.
The concern I’d have from Dallas’s perspective is that, generally, when Mike Tomlin says goodbye to a receiver, the player’s issues aren’t resolved. Tomlin’s the best at getting guys on board and managing personalities, which has allowed the Steelers to cast a wide net from a talent perspective for as long as he’s been there (Bill Cowher was similar before him). The flip side is when Pittsburgh’s done with a guy such as Pickens, it usually says something.
Maybe, in this case, that something is clearing the decks for Aaron Rodgers.
Or maybe it’s like a lot of other guys such as Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Martavis Bryant and Chase Claypool, where the reasons why the Steelers decided not to go forward with the player become readily apparent. Some guys are exceptions to the rule. Santonio Holmes had a few good years with the New York Jets, and Emmanuel Sanders became an integral piece of the Denver Broncos’ offense.
From OHfficial (@OHfficial26): If he doesn’t re-sign the ¾ rd expected comp pick would be for 2027, correct?
OH, yes, that’s correct. And that all depends on how well he plays, how much he gets paid and the role he’d play in 2026 with a new team.
The centerpiece of the trade being a third-round pick does relate to that. For Dallas, if Pickens plays well, and the Cowboys decide they can’t afford to pay him with CeeDee Lamb making $34 million per year already, then there’s a good chance they’d land a 2027 third-round pick back for their ’26 third-rounder, having gotten the year of service out of Pickens.
From Double07 (@chosen8075): In your opinion, what would be a realistic expectation for J.J. McCarthy in his first year starting? Are the Vikings confident enough in his abilities that they believe they can go on a deep playoff run with him in his first year given how talented their roster is?
Double, if you’re asking if he’s going to be Patrick Mahomes in 2018 in his second year, after sitting through his first, then, no, I don’t think that’s realistic.
But after looking through the last 10 years or so, I think I did find a situation that might be comparable—and that’s Deshaun Watson in 2018. The difference is that Watson played a lot as a rookie. Other than that? Watson suffered a season-ending knee injury in his first year. And he returned in Year 2 to a team that had been a contender, making the playoffs in 2015 and ’16 without a star at quarterback. He also had an offensive-minded head coach, a true No. 1 receiver at the height of his powers, and good line in front of him.
Watson completed 68.3% of his passes that year for 4,165 yards, 26 touchdowns, nine picks and a 103.1 passer rating. He had a couple of multi-interception games, but his team picked him up and won both of those weeks. While it ended up being good enough to advance in the playoffs, Watson’s 2018 created a ton of optimism for the Houston Texans going forward.
If McCarthy can have that kind of year, I think you’d have to view it as a big success.
From Jake Brezniak (@JBrezniak): What’s the status of Justin Simmons?
Jake, he will be turning 32 in November and is headed into his 10th season. He’s still a good player who can serve in a real role for whoever signs him. Atlanta’s safety tandem of Simmons and Jessie Bates III was seen as the strength of its roster. So even if you’re accounting for a natural step back because of age, you still have a really good player.
After that, you have to consider that the market for older players can take a little longer to develop, and this time of year teams want to get an extended look at players they’re developing or they just drafted.
It would make sense, in time, to go to another Vic Fangio-influenced defense. Maybe even the one coached by Fangio himself.
From sir_guy_grand (@SirGuyGrande): Will the Bears’ defense keep them out of the playoffs?
Sir, I do think the transition from Matt Eberflus to Dennis Allen will be interesting, just in that different coaches look for different things in personnel. So how all of it fits together for Allen might be different—not better or worse, necessarily—than it was for Eberflus.
We already have some clues. Allen values the nickel position in the decision to pay Kyler Gordon. You will also have evidence of how he’s going to use guys along his front, with the investment made in, and plan for, versatile big man Dayo Odeyingbo, who will play on the edge, and move inside plenty on passing downs. As for the draft, the highest-picked defensive player was an attack three-technique tackle in Texas A&M’s Shemar Turner.
Just looking at the totality of it, I think they have the bones of a top-half-of-the-NFL unit, and you’d hope Ben Johnson’s arrival and Caleb Williams’s progress amidst a talented offensive group will do the rest of the work in getting the Chicago Bears back into contention.
From SuaviIsCute (@SuaviIsCute): Why is DK Metcalf treated like a top-five wide receiver? When you look at his actual production, he's nowhere near that. The narrative and the reality seem world’s apart.
Suavil, you’re correct. His best season, by a good margin, was the COVID-19 year of 2000 when he was 19th in catches (83), seventh in yards (1,303) and eighth in touchdowns (10). Over his six seasons, he’s had a 1,114-yard year and a 1,048-yard year. He’s had 75-or-more catches three times, and double-digit touchdowns twice. So, no, this is not Justin Jefferson we’re talking about.
That said, he has a very rare blend of size, strength, speed and agility, and the threat that he can score from anywhere is something that effects defenses on a week-to-week basis, and can open things up for other guys in your offense. In other words, guys such as Pat Freiermuth and the post-Pickens receiver group should benefit from Metcalf’s presence, even if Metcalf isn’t catching 100 balls, 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns.
There’s value in having that. Which is to say, he gives the Steelers someone that defenses will have to track, and worry about, from the second the huddle is broken.
From Henry Matthews (@henrymHuss26H): How do you think the schedule makers will handle Pittsburgh with just the assumption that Rodgers will be the starting QB?
Henry, the good news for Howard Katz, Mike North, Onnie Bose and the crew is that the Steelers are a draw regardless. They’ll probably max out on primetime, even without an answer from Rodgers. That said, to me, and this is just me talking, I do think having cut-and-dried knowledge that Rodgers is on his way could impact Pittsburgh’s landing (or not landing) tentpole slots.
Two years ago, for example, the NFL put the New York Jets in that first Monday night slot because it was Rodgers’s debut with a new team. They were also part of the first Amazon Black Friday game that year (which couldn’t be flexed). Last year, they were, again, in that Week 1 Monday Night Football slot as Rodgers came back from Achilles surgery.
So I think the Steelers will be on big stages. But maybe not in those sorts of spots, if there’s still a risk that Mason Rudolph is the quarterback when they pull the trigger.
From Zeek (@Zeek69712999193): Do you expect a Super Bowl hangover from the Eagles? Most teams do after winning but the Eagles roster may be good enough to counteract that.
Zeek, I do think having been through it before helps—even if it’s just front office people, a couple of coaches, Lane Johnson and Jake Elliott left from the 2017 championship team. The experience they had coming off the ’22 runner-up year won’t hurt, either.
Looking back, the 2018 Eagles didn’t fall off a cliff. But they were slow out of the gate, starting 4–6 before rallying to make the playoffs at 9–7. Injuries and a wonky quarterback situation, plus some attrition on the coaching staff (OC Frank Reich and QBs coach John DeFilippo moved on), fed into a year marked with inconsistency.
In 2023, it was the reverse. Philly started 10–1, and then collapsed late, losing five their final six games before being blown out in the first round of the playoffs. Similarly, there were issues on the coaching staff after the success of the year prior led to the departures of both coordinators—Shane Steichen to Indianapolis and Jonathan Gannon to Arizona (the defense, in particular,r, was a mess down the stretch).
The 2025 Eagles, like these predecessors, are also dealing with some staff changes, with OC Kellen Moore and QBs coach Doug Nussmeier off to New Orleans. Surely, they’ll have bumps like those teams had, too. We’ll see what they’ve learned from the past.
From Staley's Place (@StaleysPlace): If an expansion team got the first 50 picks in a draft, would they win the next year's Super Bowl?
Staley, love this question. I think the answer is eventually. You wouldn’t win with a team full of rookies. But, within, say, three years, I think that team would be at a championship level. But to test it, I figured I’d take the 2021 draft class from four years ago, so young guys now in their prime, and put together the team, limiting myself to the top 75 selections so we have flexibility to draft for need, but we’re not doing revisionist history on later picks …
QB: Trevor Lawrence
RB: Najee Harris
WR: Ja’Marr Chase
WR: Jaylen Waddle
WR: DeVonta Smith
TE: Kyle Pitts
LT: Christian Darrisaw
LG: Rashawn Slater
C: Landon Dickerson
RG: Alijah Vera-Tucker
RT: Penei Sewell
DE: Greg Rousseau
DT: Alim McNeill
DT: Milton Williams
DE: Jaelen Phillips
LB: Micah Parsons
LB: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
LB: Nick Bolton
CB: Patrick Surtain II
S: Tre’von Moehrig
S: Andre Cisco
CB: Jaycee Horn
I’d say you can win with that group.
From Jesse Cohn (@cohn_jesse): What do the Giants have to do this season to deem it a successful season?
Jesse, to me, I’d say nine wins, Abdul Carter looking like one of the best young players in the NFL, and the quarterback position being in good shape with Jaxson Dart developing, be it on the field or in the background, because either Russell Wilson or Jameis Winston is rolling—would be a good place to be.
No one is under the illusion that the New York Giants are going to win a title this year. But the trajectory of the franchise has to change. Ownership’s going to have to feel good about where the team is going into 2026.
From Chris (@C_HANN_ING): How likely is it Gabriel or Sanders are actually the Week 1 starter for the Browns?
Chris, I think if it’s going to happen, it’ll have to start going in that direction in the spring.
Generally, the period of OTAs and the veteran minicamp is for teaching. But in this case, I do think the Cleveland Browns, with new OC Tommy Rees riding shotgun to head coach Kevin Stefanski, are in a position where they have to figure out who’s going to be legitimately ready to compete for the quarterback job in the summer because there’ll only be so many reps to go around in August, and they’ll have to get the whole offense ready for Week 1.
Right now, I’d bet on Joe Flacco starting the opener for that reason. But, again, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders will have the chance to change the equation if they show well enough over the course of May and the first half of June.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Mailbag: Issues That Led to the Steelers Trading George Pickens.