What is my cat telling me?

My cat acts like he loves to be picked up. He runs to me and rubs on my legs and when I pick him up he purrs and rubs his head on my chin. When he seems done with being held I set him down.

But almost every time I set him down he pounces on me and “bites” my feet. It’s not hard but it’s not a love bite. He seems mad at me based on his body language.

So my question is: Does he actually not want me to pick him up? Because I will stop if he doesn’t like it, but he always seems to want to come up. Or is he just mad I put him down? Because I could hold him longer, but it seems like he wants down. His messaging is unclear.