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Seth Walder
The Dallas Cowboys made an enormous splash on Wednesday morning, agreeing to a commerce for broad receiver George Pickens. They may ship a 2026 third-round decide and a 2027 fifth-round decide to the Pittsburgh Steelers for Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round decide.
The Cowboys had been looking for a legit WR2 alongside CeeDee Lamb, and Pickens ought to elevate their offense. However is Pickens positively the reply for Dallas? And did Pittsburgh get sufficient again in return?
Let’s grade either side. Who really gained the deal? I am evaluating the commerce primarily based on a number of elements, together with on-field affect, general worth for either side, wage cap implications, and the context of every staff’s short- and long-term QB outlooks.
Grading Pickens to Dallas
After passing on the broad receiver place fully on this 12 months’s draft, the Cowboys lastly acquired their second receiver to enhance Lamb. Pickens is a wonderful match with Lamb, too. He is an out of doors vertical receiver who will permit Lamb to take care of his heavy dosage of slot alignments within the Cowboys’ offense. Pickens ran go routes and deep fades 19% of the time final season, the Tenth-highest charge amongst receivers with not less than 300 routes run. He managed 900 yards over 14 video games in 2024 and hit 1,140 receiving yards in 2023. And he posted a powerful 2.2 yards per route run each years.
Based on ESPN’s player-tracking-based receiver scores, Pickens has proven development in his skill to get open since his rookie season. He had a 48 open rating in 2022, however that rose to 70 and 68 the previous two years. Nevertheless, his catch rating has dropped from a excessive of 99 in his rookie 12 months to 72 in 2023 after which 40 final season. That appears just like the profile of a participant who might see constructive regression, since a receiver’s skill to get open is extra steady from 12 months to 12 months than his skill to make catches over expectation.
So, on paper, this transfer makes loads of sense for the Cowboys. As poorly as 2024 went for this staff, the roster nonetheless has the identical core because the one which went 12-5 in 2023 (albeit with a distinct coach) and had a serious weak point at receiver after Lamb. To surrender a shade greater than a third-round decide for one 12 months of Pickens is affordable, contemplating how a lot much less it is going to price the Cowboys (beneath $3.4 million) than if he had been on the open market.
However this transfer isn’t made solely on paper. A giant a part of the explanation Pickens is accessible is it appears the Steelers had had sufficient of him. After Pickens had two unsportsmanlike penalties in opposition to the Bengals final season, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin mentioned, “He is acquired a goal on his again as a result of he is George; he understands that. However he is acquired to develop up. He is acquired to develop up in a rush.” Then, after the season, Tomlin mentioned, “There is definitely clearly extra room for development there.” Earlier within the season, there have been questions over Pickens’ effort, too, although Tomlin dismissed these issues on the time.
The chance right here is mitigated by the one-year dedication, and if I had been the Cowboys, I might need to maintain it that method. They need to let him play out the season and possibly let him stroll subsequent offseason in alternate for the potential for a compensatory decide. If Dallas indicators Pickens to an extension earlier than the 2025 season, I might considerably cut back its grade right here.
For the Steelers, that is good compensation. The league extensively knew they needed to maneuver on from Pickens, and so they nonetheless acquired a Day 2 decide again.
Pittsburgh already acquired Pickens’ alternative in DK Metcalf earlier this offseason. Whereas the 2 wideouts might have performed collectively, there’s an apparent overlap of their types, and it definitely seems that the Metcalf acquisition was in anticipation of dropping Pickens. Nevertheless, the Steelers as soon as once more have a receiver downside. Behind Metcalf on the depth chart are Calvin Austin III, Robert Woods and Roman Wilson.
The final piece of the puzzle is how this pertains to Aaron Rodgers. With no second receiver subsequent to Metcalf, Pittsburgh is that a lot farther from being a right away contender. That makes bringing in Rodgers slightly more durable to justify — even when the Steelers’ choices at QB are extraordinarily restricted with the draft within the rearview mirror. Maybe Kirk Cousins could possibly be one other route?
Grade for the Cowboys: B-
