FRISCO, Texas – A few weeks after Jerry Jones hinted at a "substantive trade," the Cowboys have finished one, finalizing a trade to acquire Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens and a 2027 sixth round pick in exchange for a 2026 third round pick and a 2027 fifth round pick.
Pickens, 24, now gets to pair with CeeDee Lamb, the partner for Lamb that the Cowboys have been searching for this offseason. And there's potential for the two to spend plenty of time together, with Pickens heading into just his fourth NFL season.
After being selected by the Steelers in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Pickens led Pittsburgh in receiving yards in 2023 and 2024. In 14 games last season, he caught 59 passes for 900 yards and three touchdowns. He missed three games with a hamstring injury late in the season but returned in time for the playoffs, where he added five catches for 87 yards and a touchdown in Pittsburgh's 28-14 loss in the Wild Card round to the Ravens.
The 2023 season in Pittsburgh was Pickens' best in the NFL to date, with 1,140 receiving yards on 63 receptions to go with five touchdowns, all career high. He accomplished the feat with three different starting quarterbacks in Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph and Mitchell Trubisky.
His rookie season in 2022 saw him finish second on the team in receiving yards behind Diontae Johnson, but still more than productive with 801 yards on 52 catches and four touchdowns.
Heading into his third and final season in college at Georgia, Pickens suffered a torn ACL in March of 2021 during one of the Bulldogs' spring practices. He would go on to return for the last four games of the season as Georgia went on to win their first national championship since 1980, with an electric 52-yard diving reception on a downfield shot in the national title game against Alabama.
At the NFL's league meetings in March, Cowboys COO/co-owner Stephen Jones made it very clear that Dallas was in the market to upgrade at wide receiver.
"We're still open to looking at a really explosive number two that could upgrade us," Jones said. "But as I said, I like our room and certainly like the players we currently have."
With the addition of Pickens, the Cowboys now have the downfield, explosive target they've wanted all along.
