PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – What did Art Rooney say about George Pickens and his future? Does he think differently about Najee Harris? What about his brother’s recent comments? Here are some notes, other than Mike Tomlin and the quarterbacks, from Rooney’s end-of-the-season news conference Monday.
George future
The numbers still don’t match the potential, as George Pickens finished with 59 catches for 900 yards and three touchdowns in 2024, but Rooney still believes in 23-year-old. They haven’t had any contract talks with the third-year receiver as he will hit free agency at the end of the ’25 season, but they would like to continue to see him grow and realize the type of player he could become.
“I think every team seems to have one or two guys in that room that you have to manage them correctly,” Rooney said delicately. “I still think George has enough talent that we've got to try to work and see if we can get him to fulfill the talent that he really has.”
“Who knows if we can get there? We'll see. But when you have guys that are as talented as some of the guys you're probably thinking of, you try to work with them and have them help you be successful.”
Not good enough
There may have been years when you could say it was just a play here or there, or it was a good team with bad luck. Rooney did not try to push that narrative, noting how they got blown out during the 11-day stretch of playing Philadelphia, Baltimore and the Chiefs.
“We got to play the cream of the crop there during that three-game stretch, the Christmas tournament, if you will,” Rooney said. “We played the best teams in the League and obviously you can see we're not there. We need to do what we need to do to take the next step.”
Rooney doesn’t believe it’s a team devoid of talent. He said there are key pieces there, but not enough currently to do what they want to do.
Najee return?
They could have picked up his fifth-year option, but the Steelers decided to allow running back Najee Harris to become a free agent. Rooney wouldn’t rule out Harris returning under a new contract, saying they are evaluating whether that can happen.
He said the running back position isn’t as devaluated as some thought and believes it’s still important to a team.
“I still think that running the ball is a route to success, particularly when you're playing without a roof and outside,” Rooney said.
Notes
· Along with quarterbacks and wide receivers, the other area Rooney pointed out in needing to improve was defensive line. He said defense starts with stopping the run and they didn’t do that down the stretch.
· On his brother Jim Rooney’s comments about the Steelers in his recent book ‘Jim speaks for himself, and I’m happy that he’s doing good selling his book’
· Rooney calls TJ Watt one of the foundations of the defense and he hopes to have TJ here for years to come with contract talks likely occurring during the offseason
· ‘Hard to get over a five-game losing streak’ is what Rooney said about the end of the year