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For two months, the Pittsburgh Steelers had one of the league's most interesting wide receiver pairings. A trade for DK Metcalf gave the franchise a second powerful downfield threat alongside incumbent George Pickens. Then, Pickens was gone, dealt to a Dallas Cowboys team that used the 2025 NFL Draft to select meat and potato players before adding a player with Pro Bowl upside to a moribund offense.
Pickens makes the Cowboys' offense better on paper, no doubt. While there's plenty to litigate about his play-by-play effort, body language or occasional constitutionals to scrap with opponents in the middle of a play, he's a talented wideout with elite body control and tracking skills. When he wants to block, he fiercely introduces cornerbacks to the turf.
But the Pickens trade is much more interesting because of what it means for Dallas and its 82-year-old owner and de facto general manager. While Jerry Jones can make meaningless declarations about his roster building — like telling the world the Cowboys were "all in" for 2024 free agency and then maxing out the situation with a one-year, $3 million deal for Eric Kendricks — what he actually does sheds light on the future of a volatile franchise.
Pickens isn't the only young wideout he's added in the past year via trade. First came Jonathan Mingo on a deal that suggested Jones was fully aware of his team's limited salary cap space. Mingo, like Pickens, is a former second round draft pick on his rookie contract. Unlike Pickens, he's been utterly forgettable in the NFL.
Mingo averaged just 19 receiving yards per game as a Carolina Panther. He arrived in Dallas, struggled to adjust to a new offense and was hamstrung by a passing game entrusted to Cooper Rush after Dak Prescott's injury. He had five catches in eight games.
Jones shipped a fourth-round pick in exchange for a do-little wideout and a seventh-round pick. Per Bill Belichick's trade value chart, that pegs Mingo as equivalent to the 118th pick in the draft. On Wednesday, Jones acquired Pickens and a 2027 sixth round pick for a 2026 third-rounder and a 2027 fifth-rounder. That pegs Pickens' trade value as roughly the same as roughly the 76th pick in the draft.
By that logic, this was an easy deal for Jones to make. He was getting a significantly more productive wideout on a similarly cheap short-term contract around the part of the draft where, in 2025, teams were placing modest gambles like prospects like Jaylin Noel and Savion Williams. For a win-now team, that's a logical addition.
Except! The Cowboys probably aren't any more a win-now team than anyone else in the diaspora of 2024's playoff observers. Prescott's return won't fix a bottom-five defense and a healthy DaRon Bland/Trevon Diggs combo in the secondary. A bottom-five rush offense remains a work in progress. This is all a problem because Pickens, inexpensive in 2025, will be a free agent in 2026 and due for a considerable raise.
That leaves the impression Jones pieced together some weird parts of the logic from the Mingo trade to land Pickens. Getting a wideout on a dirt cheap rookie contract can create the kind of salary cap surplus teams need to contend. Dallas, in particular, needed it after megadeals to stars like Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and, soon, Micah Parsons, clogged up their salary sheet and forced the relative inactivity of 2024's free agent non-spree and 2025's modest haul (the biggest contract? Two years and $6.4 million for punter Brian Anger).
The package Jones traded away for Pickens could make it a priority to extend him to a lucrative, but not market-shaping deal. But that's not quite the Cowboys' M.O.. Under Jones, they've waited until holdouts loom before inking massive, top-of-the-position deals that give agents something to which they can aspire. It's happening, again, with Parsons. It's a big reason why Dallas has bottom-10 estimated salary cap space for 2026 and 2027 even before locking their star edge rusher down for what's sure to be stupid, but well-earned, money.
By trading for Pickens, Jones landed a starting wideout on a bargain deal in a year in which they don't need a bargain. The Cowboys didn't splash money around in free agency and need relief; they've got an estimated $34.5 million left to spend, per Over the Cap — seventh-most in the NFL. When Pickens needs a new deal next offseason, Jones will have to rearrange deck chairs, restructure contracts and make some cuts to keep his new toy around (or he could opt to extend Pickens immediately ahead of the All-Pro who's been a star in Texas the past four seasons and see how that resonates with Parsons and his camp). The Steelers didn't want to deal with that, so around the same time the Cowboys could be wrestling with Pickens' financial ramifications they'll be making a third round pick in the range where players like Tank Dell, Jalen McMillan, Josh Downs and Nico Collins have been drafted recently.
Jones tried to untangle his salary cap issues by trading for a wideout on a rookie contract, but an unproven Mingo wasn't the undervalued asset he'd hoped. This led to a more costly deal for Pickens, who is an established but inconsistent talent who could thrive with a more stable quarterback. That's great for 2025, but it drops another big decision on his plate for 2026 after years of salary cap woes have significantly limited the Cowboys' ability to acquire and attain talent.
Thus, Jones' big swing for long-term stability may prove to be a short-term solution. Time will tell if Dallas inks Pickens to a team-friendly extension or the picks that now belong to the Steelers turn out to be stars. At the moment, the Cowboys are a better team. But Pickens is a shot that could make their ongoing hangover much worse.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The Cowboys' George Pickens trade suggests Jerry Jones is learning the wrong lessons
Continue reading...
Pickens makes the Cowboys' offense better on paper, no doubt. While there's plenty to litigate about his play-by-play effort, body language or occasional constitutionals to scrap with opponents in the middle of a play, he's a talented wideout with elite body control and tracking skills. When he wants to block, he fiercely introduces cornerbacks to the turf.
But the Pickens trade is much more interesting because of what it means for Dallas and its 82-year-old owner and de facto general manager. While Jerry Jones can make meaningless declarations about his roster building — like telling the world the Cowboys were "all in" for 2024 free agency and then maxing out the situation with a one-year, $3 million deal for Eric Kendricks — what he actually does sheds light on the future of a volatile franchise.
Pickens isn't the only young wideout he's added in the past year via trade. First came Jonathan Mingo on a deal that suggested Jones was fully aware of his team's limited salary cap space. Mingo, like Pickens, is a former second round draft pick on his rookie contract. Unlike Pickens, he's been utterly forgettable in the NFL.
Mingo averaged just 19 receiving yards per game as a Carolina Panther. He arrived in Dallas, struggled to adjust to a new offense and was hamstrung by a passing game entrusted to Cooper Rush after Dak Prescott's injury. He had five catches in eight games.
Jones shipped a fourth-round pick in exchange for a do-little wideout and a seventh-round pick. Per Bill Belichick's trade value chart, that pegs Mingo as equivalent to the 118th pick in the draft. On Wednesday, Jones acquired Pickens and a 2027 sixth round pick for a 2026 third-rounder and a 2027 fifth-rounder. That pegs Pickens' trade value as roughly the same as roughly the 76th pick in the draft.
By that logic, this was an easy deal for Jones to make. He was getting a significantly more productive wideout on a similarly cheap short-term contract around the part of the draft where, in 2025, teams were placing modest gambles like prospects like Jaylin Noel and Savion Williams. For a win-now team, that's a logical addition.
Except! The Cowboys probably aren't any more a win-now team than anyone else in the diaspora of 2024's playoff observers. Prescott's return won't fix a bottom-five defense and a healthy DaRon Bland/Trevon Diggs combo in the secondary. A bottom-five rush offense remains a work in progress. This is all a problem because Pickens, inexpensive in 2025, will be a free agent in 2026 and due for a considerable raise.
That leaves the impression Jones pieced together some weird parts of the logic from the Mingo trade to land Pickens. Getting a wideout on a dirt cheap rookie contract can create the kind of salary cap surplus teams need to contend. Dallas, in particular, needed it after megadeals to stars like Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and, soon, Micah Parsons, clogged up their salary sheet and forced the relative inactivity of 2024's free agent non-spree and 2025's modest haul (the biggest contract? Two years and $6.4 million for punter Brian Anger).
The package Jones traded away for Pickens could make it a priority to extend him to a lucrative, but not market-shaping deal. But that's not quite the Cowboys' M.O.. Under Jones, they've waited until holdouts loom before inking massive, top-of-the-position deals that give agents something to which they can aspire. It's happening, again, with Parsons. It's a big reason why Dallas has bottom-10 estimated salary cap space for 2026 and 2027 even before locking their star edge rusher down for what's sure to be stupid, but well-earned, money.
By trading for Pickens, Jones landed a starting wideout on a bargain deal in a year in which they don't need a bargain. The Cowboys didn't splash money around in free agency and need relief; they've got an estimated $34.5 million left to spend, per Over the Cap — seventh-most in the NFL. When Pickens needs a new deal next offseason, Jones will have to rearrange deck chairs, restructure contracts and make some cuts to keep his new toy around (or he could opt to extend Pickens immediately ahead of the All-Pro who's been a star in Texas the past four seasons and see how that resonates with Parsons and his camp). The Steelers didn't want to deal with that, so around the same time the Cowboys could be wrestling with Pickens' financial ramifications they'll be making a third round pick in the range where players like Tank Dell, Jalen McMillan, Josh Downs and Nico Collins have been drafted recently.
Jones tried to untangle his salary cap issues by trading for a wideout on a rookie contract, but an unproven Mingo wasn't the undervalued asset he'd hoped. This led to a more costly deal for Pickens, who is an established but inconsistent talent who could thrive with a more stable quarterback. That's great for 2025, but it drops another big decision on his plate for 2026 after years of salary cap woes have significantly limited the Cowboys' ability to acquire and attain talent.
Thus, Jones' big swing for long-term stability may prove to be a short-term solution. Time will tell if Dallas inks Pickens to a team-friendly extension or the picks that now belong to the Steelers turn out to be stars. At the moment, the Cowboys are a better team. But Pickens is a shot that could make their ongoing hangover much worse.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The Cowboys' George Pickens trade suggests Jerry Jones is learning the wrong lessons
Continue reading...
