The Dallas Cowboys struck gold when they drafted wide receiver CeeDee Lamb with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft.
With Lamb, Dallas got a tough as nails superstar who could very well be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day. He’s also someone who almost all 32 teams wish was their option at WR1.
Lamb has been nothing short of spectacular for the Cowboys, averaging 1,330 yards receiving over his first 5 seasons along with 38 touchdowns.
He’s also a 3-time NFL All-Pro, 4-time Pro Bowler. When the Cowboys paid him what he’s worth in August 2024 with a 4-year, $136 million contract extension, the only complaint you heard coming from Dallas fans was that they should have paid him sooner.
What Lamb hasn’t had — and still doesn’t have — is a serviceable threat to play alongside him since Amari Cooper was traded to the Cleveland Browns in March 2022.
The pressure on the Cowboys, now, is to find another wide receiver to help Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott win games after going 7-10 in 2024 and snapping a streak of 3 consecutive playoff appearances.
Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay thinks that player could be obtained via a trade for mercurial Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens.
“If Dallas is going to return to the playoffs and start the Brian Schottenheimer era off by seriously contending, the team must shore up the receiving corps as soon as possible,” Kay wrote on May 6. “With every marquee free agent already under contract, a deal for Pickens is the best way to accomplish this goal.”
Bringing Pickens to Dallas would be a disastrous move, with enough red flags already in place that we don’t have to guess on how things might turn out. The Cowboys do need to bring in more help at wide receiver, but what they don’t need is a diva.
Steelers, Pickens Have Rollercoaster Relationship
Spotrac projects Pickens should be in line for a 4-year, $94.2 million contract extension, but the Steelers traded for Seattle Seahawks star D.K. Metcalf on March 9 and signed him to a 4-year, $132 million contract extension the same day.
Pickens, a 2022 second round pick (No. 57 overall), has a 17-game average of 1,006 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns through his first 3 seasons. That includes career highs of 63 receptions for 1,140 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2023, when he led the NFL with 18.1 yards per reception.
That’s production more in line with getting paid like a WR2 than getting paid like a WR1, which Pickens thinks he is.
Add in Pickens’ behavior on and off the field, it’s also production that’s been somewhat canceled out.
Problems Controlling Behavior, Being On Time
In 3 seasons, Pickens has been fined a staggering 10 times by the NFL for a variety of offenses. That includes 3 times for taunting, once for making an obscene gesture and once when he wrote “OPEN (EXPLETIVE) ALWAYS” on his eye black tape against the Cowboys in 2024.
It’s behavior that has prompted Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin to publicly tell Pickens he needed to “Grow Up” late in the 2024 season.
Pickens somehow made things worse after that when he showed up over 30 minutes late to the stadium before the Steelers’ Christmas Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
