PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – There was an overlying theme as Steelers general manager Omar Khan met with reporters Friday about the George Pickens trade to Dallas.
“A fresh start for both sides was the right thing,” Khan said. And he repeated that phrase numerous times.
Khan said while the had trade offers for Pickens around the NFL Draft, none of those worked or were enticing at that time. Sending Pickens to Dallas for a third and fifth-round pick Wednesday just made sense and only came about earlier this week. He said it was done after ‘serious and honest conversations.’
What you could read between the lines is that there were issues in the locker room. Issues at times with his attitude and coachability and it was time for a divorce.
What about the Steelers wide receiver room now?
“We wouldn't have done this if we didn't feel good about the receiver situation, about our depth here,” Khan said. “I know people make the comparison about last year, it's not even close to being the same.”
What's the difference in 2025?
“Well, obviously we made the investment with DK (Metcalf),” Khan said. “We've had another year with some of the young guys and gotten to know them, watched them develop. We add a Robert Woods. We have (2024 third-round pick & wide receiver) Roman (Wilson) healthy. I've seen him the last couple weeks out here. And how he's doing and we saw how he was progressing at the end of last year. Obviously, he didn't get the chance to get on the field, but there was some excitement there.”
“But we have a good group, you know, there's some guys that are back. And we've seen their growth and have another year under our belt with them and feel good about it.”
Khan said there are still good receivers out there, so if they wanted to add a player, they could. But the Steelers GM said, again, they feel comfortable with this group.
“I guess we had a team that called and gave us something worth thinking about,” Khan said. “We had the conversations, and like I said, we talked about where we've been and where we are, where we could be, and it just made sense that a fresh start was a good idea.”