Throwback Thursday: Steelers recent receiver trade returns
Steel City Underground takes fans back in time to feature events, special moments, and historical times and players in the world of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Steelers Nation. Join us in our “Steelers Throwback Thursday” series as we revisit these moments.
On Wednesday, it was confirmed by the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys that a trade deal had been negotiated to put wide receiver George Pickens in Texas for the 2025 NFL season. Pickens is the most recent – and perhaps surprising – receiver trades in recent Steelers but not alone in having been dealt away. We look at how Pickens’ trade deal – and what Pittsburgh got in return – compares to other receiver trades in the past few years.
⚠️ TRADE ALERT ⚠️
We’ve agreed to terms to acquire WR George Pickens and a 2027 6th-round pick from the Steelers in exchange for a 2026 3rd-round pick and a 2027 5th-round pick.
📰: https://t.co/6bwTbmwTSW | @blockchain pic.twitter.com/m3C0JcyzxX
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) May 7, 2025
Pickens deal
The Steelers fanbase was a bit disenfranchised by the attitude Pickens has shown while in Pittsburgh, as Joe Kuzma and Brian E. Roach addressed on the Steel City Underground podcast several times; most recently they spoke about Pickens on Wednesday afternoon.
The deal for Pickens by the Cowboys is likely not as fortuitous for the Steelers as fans would have hoped. Considered a top-tier receiver, Pickens only gave Pittsburgh a trade return of a third round pick in 2026 and two extra draft selections in 2027.
- Related content: Was it wise for the Steelers to trade George Pickens?
How does his deal compare to other recent receiver trades that the Steelers have made? And was it a win or a loss?
The Diontae Deal
The most recent receiver trades by the Steelers include Diontae Johnson (2024), Chase Claypool (2023), Antonio Brown (2019), Martavis Bryant (2018), and Santonio Holmes (2010) as confirmed by Christopher Carter.
Each of those receivers was highly regarded as talent at the time, and some created a lot of chatter across Steelers Nation – similar to what is happening with the Pickens trade news.
Johnson was dealt to the Carolina Panthers on March 12, 2024 in exchange for cornerback Donte Jackson and the 178th overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, which Pittsburgh used to draft Iowa DT Logan Lee. While Lee has yet to be tested, Jackson served the Steelers fairly well by grabbing 5 interceptions.
Meanwhile, Johnson was quickly traded from Carolina to the Baltimore Ravens on October 29 of the same year for a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. When he was released, Johnson joined the Houston Texans in December 2024. Johnson was again released and was claimed again by the Ravens before the Cleveland Browns signed him to a one-year, $1.17 million contract on April 28, 2025.
Compensation and return for other receivers on the list
Claypool was traded to the Chicago Bears on November 1, 2022, in exchange for their second-round pick (32nd overall) which the Steelers later used to select Joey Porter Jr.) in the 2023 NFL draft. Claypool was then traded to the Miami Dolphins, then signed with the Buffalo Bills only to end up in the Canadian Football League.
On March 9, 2019, the Steelers agreed to trade Brown to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for a third and a fifth round selection in the 2019 NFL draft. Pittsburgh selected Justin Layne in the third round, after picking up Johnson, and then tight end Zach Gentry in the fifth per Pro Football Reference. Steelers fans are well acquainted with what happened to Brown once he left Pittsburgh.
Selected by the Steelers in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL draft, Bryant had his ups and downs as a player and an individual – including suspensions for breaking the NFL’s substance use policies – before Pittsburgh traded him to the (then) Oakland Raiders on April 26, 2018 for a third round pick in the 2018 draft. With that 76th pick overall, the Steelers selected quarterback Mason Rudolph who has rejoined the Steelers for the 2025 NFL season.
Bryant became a journeyman, spending time with the Dallas Cowboys, and Washington Commanders, the Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League (CFL), the Massachusetts Pirates of the Indoor Football League (IFL), the Beasts of Fan Controlled Football (FCF), and the Vegas Vipers of the XFL.
Holmes was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 2006 NFL draft after playing college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes. After numerous brushes with the law, Holmes was traded to the New York Jets in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2010 draft. The Steelers then traded that pick to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for a sixth round pick, which they used to draft Antonio Brown, and reacquired Bryant McFadden.
Were the results worth it for the Steelers?
Every receiver the Steelers traded (on this list of recent trades) was evaluated, at the time, to have expended their use to the team. The players Pittsburgh got in return didn’t always pan out the way they hoped, but some met expectation.
Gentry played in all 17 games of the Steelers’ 2021 season. In the playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Gentry the final professional pass thrown by Ben Roethlisberger. He and Pat Freiermuth built a friendship that entertained Steelers fans with their barbque themed video series as well.
Porter is considered a homerun pick and is currently a starting cornerback – like Jackson was – for the Steelers. His ceiling continues to be high.
While we will not know for awhile how the picks exchanged for Pickens will pan out, yet, it gives Pittsburgh the opportunity to really turn heads in the 2026 draft and plan for the future.
Still IN on the Steelers.
Confused. But IN. pic.twitter.com/w1tJGQgfEv
— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) May 7, 2025
