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While there are still 10 regular season games left for Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens — not the most predictable person who ever lived — it’s safe to say the results haven’t been so far, so good in his first season in Dallas. It’s been more like so far … so great. Pickens has been one of the NFL’s dominant wide receivers through the first 7 games and done so both on his own, with fellow star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb out with a high ankle sprain, and alongside Lamb, who returned to light up the Washington Commanders alongside Pickens in a convincing, 44-22 win in Week 7. How good has Pickens been, exactly? So good it’s impossible to not mention him among the NFL’s very best wide receivers. He’s currently fourth in the NFL in receiving with 36 receptions for 607 yards and 6 touchdowns. The Pittsburgh Steelers traded Pickens to the Cowboys along with a 2026 sixth round pick in exchange for a 2026 third round pick and 2027 fifth round pick on March 7. “If you did a poll of NFL cornerbacks right now, they’d rather try and cover Lamb instead of Pickens,” ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Alex Smith said on “Get Up” on October 20. “Pickens seems like he has the best hands in NFL right now and is one of the best receivers in NFL right now.” Steelers ‘Gave Away’ Pickens to Cowboys ESPN’s Adam Schefter pointed out on the same broadcast that the Steelers have struggled to find downfield targets this season with the player they replaced Pickens with in D.K. Metcalf, who they traded with the Seattle Seahawks to get and signed to a 4-year, $132 million contract extension on March 9. “(Steelers head coach) Mike Tomlin pretty much gave (Pickens) away,” Schefter said. “Pickens went to Dallas and accepted the challenge ahead of him … if he can keep doing this and keep becoming the weapon he’s becoming, the money he can get is bonkers.” Pickens is in the final year of the 4-year, $6.75 million rookie contract he signed after he was drafted in the second round (No. 52 overall) out of Georgia in the 2022 NFL draft. Metcalf’s contract is actually a good template for what Pickens might get paid – if the season were to end today he would undoubtedly have an asking price upwards of $30 million per year. Pickens Just as Likely to Implode on Cowboys If you’ve paid any attention to Pickens over the last few years, you know that despite all the flowery praise and good vibes about him right now, there’s just as likely a chance he goes full on Chernobyl and lays waste to everything and everyone around him. Let’s not forget … this is still the same guy who has been fined 12 times by the NFL since 2023 for a wide-ranging variety of offenses, including taunting, making obscene gestures and even writing a personal message on his uniform. The final act that led to Pickens getting his walking papers from the Steelers is hard to comprehend — he showed up late to a Christmas Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Pittsburgh in 2024. Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame Now Test Your Knowledge var VUUKLE_CONFIG = { apiKey: "6ff6a1d2-d34b-462f-bf11-c86cae0e6821", }; // DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE (function() { var d = document, s = d.createElement('script'); s.src = 'https://cdn.vuukle.com/platform.js'; (d.head || d.body).appendChild(s); })(); More Heavy on Cowboys Loading more stories
