According to a report from Bobby Belt of the 1053 The Fan in Dallas early Wednesday morning, the Dallas Cowboys are making a trade for 24-year-old wide receiver George Pickens.
Although the deal wasn’t completely finalized early Wednesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and other leading NFL insiders quickly confirmed Belt’s report. Schefter added that the Pittsburgh Steelers will receive a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round selection from Dallas, but they’re also shipping 2027 sixth-round pick to the Cowboys.
Pickens is going into the final season of his rookie contract and looking for an extension. The University of Georgia product brings talent galore to Dallas, but he’s the occasional headache that has plenty of WR diva in him as well.
In a Week 13 games against the Bengals this past season, Pickens was issued a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. He was also involved in a scuffle with Cleveland CB Greg Newsome in Week 12 and famously had an altercation in college during a rivalry game at Ga. Tech.
But traits like that are completely overlooked by Dallas owner Jerry Jones, especially when players deliver on the field on Sundays.
And for the most part, Pickens has done that in his first three seasons in the NFL. He played in 14 of 17 regular-season games for the Steelers this past year, hauling in 59 receptions for 900 yards and three touchdowns.
In a 28-14 loss at Baltimore in the AFC wild card round, Pickens had five catches for 87 yards and one TD.
In 2023, Pickens caught 63 balls for 1,140 yards and five TDs. He had five receptions for 50 yards but also coughed up a fumble in a 31-17 loss at Buffalo in the wild card round.
As a rookie in 2022, Pickens had 52 catches for 801 yards and four TDs.
Pittsburgh traded for DK Metcalf earlier in the offseason, so it had a new #1 WR that made Pickens expendable. The Steelers also signed veteran WR Robert Woods last week.
With the addition of Pickens, Dallas has another explosive weapon for Dak Prescott to pair with CeeDee Lamb.
FanDuel has both the Steelers and Cowboys with 44/1 odds to win Super Bowl LX. Dallas previously had 60/1 odds.