It’s been smooth sailing here in 2025 for Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens, who came to Dallas in what was a bargain trade–a third-rounder in 2026 and a late pick swap in 2027–with the Steelers. The cost for the Cowboys to land Pickens was remarkably low, of course, for a player who had tallied up 2,040 yards over the previous two seasons.
That was because of Pickens’ reputation from his days with the Steelers, during which he frequently landed in the doghouse of coach Mike Tomlin, who said of Pickens late last year that, “He’s just gotta grow up.”
Now, as he is thriving with the Cowboys thanks to a league-high six touchdowns, as well as being on pace to catch 91 passes, and for 1,487 yards, both of which would be career highs, Pickens is reshaping the image that he feels was badly distorted by rumors and gossip in Pittsburgh.
Pickens said he mostly ignored the chatter while he was with the Steelers. “It wasn’t really hard to ignore because I knew who I was,” he said after practice this week. “I’m the person who everybody’s seeing now. It’s just like a thing that you kind of have to go through. And then I always knew that the people don’t know me so I never really cared.”
George Pickens Accused of Being ‘Toxic’ by Steelers
The worst example of Pickens’ character being assassinated came in the wake of the trade, when Steelers beat reporter Mark Kaboly wrote the kind of damaging personal details on Twitter/X that so often comes from a team after a trade. Little doubt that some with the Steelers were eager to hurt Pickens’ reputation on his way out the door.
Kaboly wrote: “Significant locker room guys got fed up with Pickens’ antics and quickly got turned off by him for multiple reasons, I was told. Some felt that it would be counterproductive to keep him around, even with his unique talent. They felt the locker room could turn toxic.”
George Pickens Having Fun With Cowboys
That’s been such a vastly different Pickens experience than the Cowboys appear to be having. Pickens has repeatedly talked about the closeness of the team and the wide receiver room. And his teammates and coaches have pointed out how much fun he is to have around in the locker room.
He insists he was the same way with the Steelers, but that there were elements in the organization that sought to damage his image.
“Especially off the cameras,” Pickens said. “I mean, I can’t record myself. Definitely, people can put stuff out there that can tarnish your image but I always feel like I was having fun.”
Cowboys ‘Uplifted’
That’s his goal now. Pickens said he has dozens of handshakes he employs with his teammates, and that he likes to keep them all at ease.
“Definitely like I said with the guys in the receiver room—the guys I see every day kinda keep us uplifted as well,” Pickens said.
Coach Brian Schottenheimer commented this week on how funny Pickens is. Pickens agreed on that.
“I am super-funny,” he said. “I feel like once you get to know me, I feel like Schotty really knows me, so that’s one thing he definitely can say about me because I’m definitely a goofy guy that likes to make people laugh. Just you know certain jokes, certain puns for different guys. I kind of lighten it up.”
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