The results of the Pittsburgh Steelers' George Pickens trade with the Dallas Cowboys last May have finally come to fruition... and fans aren't going to like it. Just weeks after the 2025 NFL Draft, Steelers general manager Omar Khan sent Pickens packing in a deal to the Dallas Cowboys.
In return for Pickens, the Steelers received a 2026 third-round pick, which ultimately became the No. 76 pick this year. The deal also included a 2027 fifth and sixth-round pick swap.
With the 67th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Penn State quarterback Drew Allar.
And with that, the Steelers ultimately turned George Pickens into Drew Allar.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' George Pickens trade keeps looking worse after the Drew Allar reach pick
Right now, this deal has never looked worse. Pickens is coming off a spectacular and productive season with the Cowboys, while Allar's draft stock tanked (or so we thought) during his senior season at Penn State in 2025.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh's wide receiver struggled mightily without Pickens last season, and DK Metcalf proved to be underwhelming in his first season in Pittsburgh. To ensure that didn't happen again in 2026, the Steelers traded for Michael Pittman Jr. in free agency before trading up for Alabama's Germie Bernard in the second round of the 2026 draft.
Because of his antics and inconsistent effort in critical moments on the field, we all knew it was time for Pickens to be traded during the 2025 offseason. However, it's a tad underwhelming to think that the high third-round pick Pittsburgh received for Pickens in the trade with the Cowboys was only able to be turned into a quarterback who most experts believe should have gone on Day 3 of the draft, not Day 2.
Of course, there's always the off chance the Allar proves us all wrong and turns out to be the quarterback this team has been looking for. After all, he was the No. 1 QB recruit in the nation for a reason in 2022.
Allar will begin his Steelers career competing with Mason Rudolph and Will Howard. If Aaron Rodgers returns for the 2026 season, we can assume that either Rudolph or Howard will be the odd man out. Either way, it's hard to expect Allar to be anything more than a QB3 for Pittsburgh in Year 1.
We won't know for sure how this George Pickens trade will look a year or two from now, but it already looked bad after the star wide receiver's 2025 season. And if Allar doesn't pan out, the Pittsburgh Steelers will have nothing to show for it.
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