Steelers coach Mike Tomlin once referred to receiver George Pickens’s behavior as a “pebble in my shoe.” Now that the shoe has been removed and the pebble has been shaken out, Tomlin has slipped the sneaker back on his foot and walked away.

Case in point — during Tomlin’s first visit with reporters after Pickens was traded to Dallas for a 2026 third-round pick and a late-round swap of selections, Tomlin had nothing to say about the situation.

“You know, I’m not gonna add any color to it other than what [G.M.] Omar [Khan] told you guys yesterday,” Tomlin said Saturday. “We thought it was best and timely for all parties involved.”

Khan said on Friday that a “fresh start” was best for both sides.

The Steelers gain nothing by airing out dirty laundry. Obviously, if they believed it was in the team’s best interests to keep Pickens, he’d still be there. The moment they invested a second-round pick and a five-year, $150 million contract in receiver DK Metcalf, the die was cast.

Frankly, they should have worked out a Pickens trade at the same time. Adding Metcalf didn’t make their leverage for a Pickens trade any better. If anything, it made it much harder to get full and fair value for a player who has the potential to be much better than he has been in three years with the Steelers.

The Steelers, for whatever reason, never fully embraced and utilized Pickens’s skills. With an urgency in 2025 to justify Metcalf’s salary, Pickens would have gotten even fewer opportunities in his contract year. It was a debacle waiting to happen.

Now, the Cowboys get a chance to unlock an even higher level of performance from Pickens. If they do, their investment of a future third-round pick will be regarded as a steal from the Steelers.

However it goes, don’t expect Tomlin to say much, if anything.