Madden Monday on the Steelers: 'If you don’t care that you’re clueless, you keep on being clueless'
The epitaph on George Pickens’ career in Pittsburgh can’t truly be written until we see how things work out for him in Dallas.
And wherever else he may go after that.
But in this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of TribLive and 105.9 The X says that shipping Pickens away in a trade with one year left on his entry-level deal is emblematic of deeper problems for the Steelers franchise.
“It makes you wonder all the more why they drafted (Pickens) in the first place. This is a horrible organization run haphazardly,” Madden said.
Madden pointed to the franchise’s recent track record of draft picks as evidence.
“Troy Fautanu? Injury prone. They took him. What happened? He got injured. George Pickens. Head case. They took him. What happened? He became a head case. Kenny Pickett. No team had him rated in the first round besides the Steelers. They took him anyway. What happened? He stiffed,” Madden continued. “These guys don’t know what they are doing. They think every decision is right because they make it. And when it turns out to be wrong, they are more convinced that it is right.”
Based on what general manager Omar Khan said on Friday, the team isn’t all that concerned about making an immediate signing in the free agent market to backfill for Pickens’ departure. That was also the case a season ago when the club was unable to swing a trade to replace Diontae Johnson.
“Maybe they think they are fine with what they have got. They thought that last year,” Madden said. “They are clueless. And they are really steadfast in the belief that they are right even when they are clueless. That makes them being clueless even more dangerous. If you know you are clueless, you can try not to be clueless. If you don’t care that you’re clueless, you keep on being clueless.”
Also in the podcast, Madden and I have a laugh over the latest Aaron Rodgers gossip, we bemoan the state of the Pirates, we discuss the NHL postseason, and we look at the Penguins coaching situation.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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