Ralph Vacchiano
NFL Reporter
If there was one thing clear from the Cowboys’ 2024 offseason of “all-in,” it’s that they don’t really make big, bold moves anymore. Jerry Jones can talk a good game when it comes to his football team, but when the time comes to act, the ‘Boys often don’t.
Perhaps, that’s finally changing.
They made an unquestionably bold move on Wednesday morning, trading for talented, but sometimes troublesome receiver George Pickens. The former Steeler is exactly the type of receiver they desperately needed. In fact, he’s the type of receiver they’ve needed for several years.
And yes, it’s fair to wonder what took them so long. But at this point, Cowboys fans should be thrilled that it happened at all.
Dallas has had a glaring hole, obvious to everyone but them, since they traded away Amari Cooper in 2022 and left All-Pro receiver CeeDee Lamb alone on an offensive island. Lamb has continued to produce at an elite level. But to help him, they’ve rolled out Michael Gallup, Noah Brown, Brandin Cooks, and even Jalen Tolbert in the role of Robin to Lamb’s Batman.
None of them have provided much help at all.
In fact, Lamb has averaged 114 catches for 1,434 yards and nine touchdowns over the past three years — more than doubling the average output of the second receiver on the Cowboys’ roster (49 catches, 607 yards, 7 touchdowns). That’s a ridiculous gap, made even more ridiculous by the fact that in each of those three seasons, a tight end actually finished second in receiving for Dallas, and a running back was third in 2023.
The lack of a true No. 2 wideout made the Dallas offense very predictable. It limited the options for quarterback Dak Prescott. It put crazy pressure on Lamb, because if a defense was able to take him away, even just a little bit, the Cowboys became a very beatable team — something that was really obvious when they played good defenses in the playoffs in 2022 and 2023.
Adding the speedy 6-3, 200-pound Pickens has a chance to change all that. On his own, the 24-year-old is a legitimate No. 1 option. Playing with Lamb, he’s instantly an elite No. 2. In 2023, he led the NFL with 18.1 yards per catch, hauling in 63 passes for 1,140 yards and five touchdowns from the likes of Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph and Mitch Trubisky.
Just imagine what he can do catching passes from Prescott.
The cost to acquire Pickens wasn’t ridiculous, either. The Cowboys got him by sending a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-rounder to the Steelers in return for Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round pick. It’s a little bit high if the Cowboys think of him as a rental — he’s entering the final year of his rookie contract and is due $3.6 million. But now they have the option to try and sign him long term if everything works out.
Even if it’s only for the 2025 season, though, a young receiver with the talent that he has is more than worth that cost.
But the boldness of the move was less about the price or even the player, and more about the person. Pickens made plenty of unwanted waves in his three years in Pittsburgh, which is why the club was open to dumping someone with so much potential. He constantly clashed with the Steelers’ coaching staff last season, protesting the way he was (or wasn’t) being used. He even wore eye black during an early-season Sunday night game with the words “Open F—ing Always” inscribed to make his point.
Pickens was told to “grow up” by Steelers coach Mike Tomlin after he drew two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in a Week 13 game. And that message apparently didn’t get through because he reportedly showed up late to the Steelers’ Christmas Day game the next week, arriving less than 90 minutes before kickoff.
That’s not the kind of player the modern Cowboys usually embrace. It’s more of the boat-rocking kind they had during their free-wheeling Super Bowl days in the ‘90s. It’s certainly not the kind of potential problem Jones figured to be willing to dump on his new, first-time head coach, Brian Schottenheimer.
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But give the 82-year-old owner credit for taking a risk and doing what’s necessary to fortify his club, even if he’s two or three years late. It doesn’t quite make up for the way the Cowboys sat on their hands last offseason while a bumper crop of affordable running backs littered free agency. And it doesn’t make up for being idle as a boatload of high-quality receivers were traded elsewhere over the past couple of years.
The lack of a No. 2 wide receiver alone wasn’t why the Dallas Cowboys have continually fizzled out in recent years. But it’s a proxy for their failure to address obvious needs. Those were missed opportunities, risks worth taking, and sitting patiently only served to extend the Cowboys’ agonizing, 29-year Super Bowl drought.
Adding Pickens likely isn’t enough to make the Cowboys Super Bowl contenders. They’re still probably the third team in the NFC East. But the Lamb-Pickens tandem eclipses the Commanders’ new Terry McLaurin-Deebo Samuel pairing and could even challenge the Eagles’ A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith for the best duo in the league. More importantly, it gives their passing game more than a fighting chance.
Adding Pickens was an obvious move to make once the Cowboys learned he was available. They’re smart for betting on him to produce more than disrupt. It’s part of the price of going “all-in.”
Plus, it’s about time they did something big to back up their big words.
Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
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