The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed their first draft choice today according to Steelers.com. It's second round pick, George Pickens. Pickens received the standard four year contract from Steelers. With the signing of Pickens you can expect more of the same in the coming days from all of the Steelers rookies.
We have signed WR George Pickens to a four-year contract. @BordasLaw
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) May 13, 2022
A lot of teams have signed their entire draft classes already, and some Steelers fans may have been wondering why the Steelers haven't agreed to terms with any of their rookies. That's because many teams held their rookie minicamps last week. Once all of the players get back to Pittsburgh for minicamps the rookie contracts tend to come quickly in todays NFL.
When the new CBA was signed back in 2011 it ended the days of rookies having any leverage in negotiations. The new CBA appoints each draft selection spot with a monetary value. So a player and his agent already goes into negotiations knowing the price they're going to get.
Pickens was the first of two receivers selected by the Steelers in the 2022 NFL draft. And he's one the Steelers considered to be at the top of the class despite his slip down NFL draft boards into the second round.
After the selection was made, Matt Canada was asked about Pickens in a press conference, and he may have shed some light on the makeup of this wide receiver room. In response to if he sees Pickens as an ‘inside guy or an outside guy’, Canada responded:
“You know what? We see him as kind of as both. I mean, he’s so explosive again. You look at what he did in his career down there. He did a lot, and they used him in multiple places with the talent they had. We certainly have a couple of guys that we feel really good about at wide out, so we’ll see where he fits and the best place to put him… But I think he can do both, to answer your question.”
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