Blogging The Boys
Our latest BTB Roundtable offers plenty of thoughts on George Pickens
Every week, we gather the latest news about the Dallas Cowboys and seek our writer’s perspective on each headline. Welcome back to the roundtable. This week we have Jess Haynie, David Howman, Tom Ryle, RJ Ochoa, and Brian Martin.
Just when we thought the Dallas Cowboys were done constructing their roster for the 2025 season they go and throw an unexpected trade into the mix. This time the Pittsburgh Steelers traded wide receiver George Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round draft pick to the Dallas Cowboys. In return, the Steelers received a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick. The Cowboys aim to bolster their receiving corps by pairing Pickens with the elite talent of CeeDee Lamb, enhancing their offensive options even further after the seasons moves.
Pickens, a 2022 second-round draft selection, amassed 2,841 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns over three seasons while in Pittsburgh. Despite his on-field production, concerns about his behavior and its impact on team morale contributed to the Steelers’ decision to trade him. This negative aspect of his game has so far dominated the narrative, but he looks to change that as enters a new stage in his career with the Cowboys.
Howman: Pickens is the perfect complement to CeeDee Lamb. He’s a legitimate downfield threat that defenses have to respect, which opens up so many avenues for Lamb over the middle, and he also offers great blocking skills in the run game. I’m not expecting 1,000 yards from Pickens, but his presence can potentially be the piece that completes this offense.
Tom: I want to start by saying that the Pickens trade was exactly what the Cowboys needed to give the offseason a potential of being very good indeed. If the off-field issues don’t resurface in Dallas, he is the high quality WR2 a stud like Lamb needs to draw attention and make it harder to just shut down one receiver. Finding a workable WR3 or rotation to fill in now seems a much easier task than trying to find a WR2 with the assets available. I do differ from Howman in that I think that Pickens will flirt with 1,000 as some teams will decide to choose him as the poison of the day.
Brian: I believe George Pickens is going to have a tremendous impact on the Cowboys offense for the better. He’s arguably one of the best deep threat WRs in the entire league and opens up everything around him. He’s a perfect complement for CeeDee Lamb and will help Dallas’ rushing attack forcing opposing defenses to play more coverage instead of stacking the box against the run. I think he’s going to flirt with 1,000 receiving yards this year and score 6-8 touchdowns.
Jess: At the very least, Pickens’ immediate impact will be enough that we shouldn’t miss that 2026 third-round pick....
