When things go bad for the Dallas Cowboys, at least for the last 30 years, they usually go really, really bad.
Why would 2025 be any different?
After making a headline-grabbing trade this offseason with the Pittsburgh Steelers for controversial wide receiver George Pickens, The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia predicted the move will backfire on the Cowboys … to the point Pickens won’t even last a full season in Dallas.
Kapadia was discussing possible NFC playoff sleepers and while he included the Cowboys on his list, it came with a disclaimer directly tied to Pickens’ mercurial nature.
“You get tunnel vision and try to find, especially in the NFC, one good thing about a team and you’re like, ‘Can they hang their hat on that to get them above .500?’ ” Kapadia said on The Ringer NFL Show on August 18. “And I’m like … it wouldn’t shock us is George Pickens is off the roster by Thanksgiving. I mean, everything is in play with that guy. So, yes, I’m hopeful that their passing game can be good and can lead them to a playoff berth, but not that confident about it.”
Think Kapadia is exagerrating? Take into account Pickens barely made it through the holidays last year.
Pickens Had Christmas Day Meltdown for Steelers
While Pickens is one of the most talented receivers in the NFL, he’s also one of the most unreliable. On Christmas Day 2024, everyone in the country learned just how unreliable he could be after a 29-10 home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Pickens had missed the previous 2 games with a hamstring injury.
“When he was finally healthy, how did he respond?” The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo wrote on January 22. “By showing up late for the Christmas Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Tomlin asks players to report to games at least two hours before kickoff. On Dec. 25, Pickens walked through the media entrance an hour and 25 minutes before kickoff. That was after inactive players were announced.”
In 3 seasons with the Steelers, Pickens was 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 was behavior that prompted Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin to publicly tell Pickens he needed to “Grow Up” late in the 2024 season.
Cowboys Could Have NFL’s Elite WR Duo
The writing was on the wall for Pickens in Pittsburgh after the Steelers traded for Seattle Seahawks star wide receiver D.K. Metcalf on March 9 and signed him to a 4-year, $132 million contract extension the same day.
On May 7, FOX Sports NFL Insider Jordan Schultz reported the terms of a trade between the Cowboys, where Dallas received Pickens in exchange for a 2026 third round pick.
“Comp update: It’s a 3rd-round pick back to the #Steelers and Day 3 pick swap with the #Cowboys in exchange for George Pickens, per sources,” Schultz wrote on his official X account on May 7.
With Pickens now on the Cowboys and in the last year of his contract, it pairs him with NFL All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, which could create the NFL’s very best wide receiver duo.
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