Omar Khan Explains Why Steelers Moved On from George Pickens
PITTSBURGH — Omar Khan doesn’t usually address the media during Pittsburgh Steelers rookie minicamp. He also doesn’t usually trade away the team’s best wide receiver for a third-round pick the week of rookie minicamp.
Khan took to the podium at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on Friday to set the record straight about how George Pickens ended up traded to the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday.
The Steelers were not expecting to trade Pickens, and were not actively shopping him, after fielding calls and turning down offers during the 2025 NFL Draft. But when the Cowboys called with an offer this week, they took it seriously.
“The trade sort of happened quickly,” Khan said. “We had some people inquire during the draft. Nothing that really made sense. The Cowboys reached out, I don’t remember what day it was, but earlier this week. They proposed something for us to think about.”
The reason there were not weeks and weeks of trade drama is that the Steelers didn’t try to shop Pickens to all 31 other teams, looking for a better deal. There reportedly was not much of a market for Pickens, anyway, but the Steelers tried to do right by him, sending him to place where he was comfortable going.
“We had conversations internally and also had some conversations with George’s agent Dave [Mulugheta], who I had a good relationship with,” Khan said. “We discussed where thing have been with George, where they are, and where things could go with George. This trade made sense for everyone. … Lot of serious conversations, honest conversations. We just felt that a fresh start for both sides were the right thing.”
The trade wasn’t about anything that happened in the moment, not was it about the Steelers and Pickens running into problems with negotiations on a contract extension. The Steelers don’t even start those until later this summer.
It was, as Khan noted, about the personality fit — something he acknowledged has now happened repeatedly at the wide receiver position.
“Some of that is really just coincidence, how it’s played out at that position,” he said. “We want to get good players, good people.”
One thing the trade doesn’t mean: the Steelers aren’t tanking. Khan made that abundantly clear, and expect a move to be made to backfill the wide receiver position.
“We’re chasing a championship,” he said. “Every decision we make is based on trying to win a championship, not only the future, but this year. We’re focused on trying to win a championship this year. … There’s a lot of time between now and the start of the season.”