Report: Dallas Cowboys trading for wide receiver George Pickens

The Dallas Cowboys are adding to their wide receiver room. The Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers have agreed to a trade for wideout George Pickens, per multiple NFL insiders. Draft compensation was not reported as of this publication, but reports indicate it is for multiple draft picks.

A second round pick out of Georgia in the 2022 NFL Draft, Pickens has played for the Steelers for the entirety of his career to this point. Pickens has accumulated 2,841 yards and 12 touchdowns during his three years in Pittsburgh. the highlight of his career so far was his second year with the Steelers, where he caught 63 passes for 1,140 yards and five touchdowns.

While Pickens is believed to be one of the more intriguing talents in the league, his demeanor and sideline antics have often caused him issues and made him one of the more polarizing players in the league.

Pickens has arrived for games and meetings later than requested by coaches, as well as arguing with fans during games. There was plenty of talk about the Steelers possibly moving on from Pickens during last season, and now it appears the Cowboys have decided to be the team that makes the move for him, despite these concerns.

While it might have been a bit surprising to see the Cowboys make this move, it was also a bit surprising to see Pickens moved. While there had been rumblings of a Pickens trade, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, as recently as this past weekend, indicated on SportsCenter that Pickens hoped to stay with the Steelers. And the team appeared to be all-in on keeping Pickens, as it continues to target quarterback Aaron Rodgers in free agency.

“So coming out of the draft, there was a little bit of smoke, a little bit of trade chatter about them potentially moving Pickens, but right now, I’m told that they’re going to go forward with the offseason program,” Fowler said on SportsCenter. “And Pickens wants to be with the Steelers. He’s in a contract year, he’s most likely not getting a new deal with that team, that money with DK Metcalf, he feels the loyalty to Mike Tomlin, so he wants to make it work. And the Steelers are not in the business of shipping out good receivers right now, because they’re trying to woo one Aaron Rodgers. 

“So we know the Steelers remain optimistic. From what I’m hearing, nothing has really changed on that front. But there’s no hard update about him signing with the team or anything imminent right now, but at least they should have Pickens in the fold, DK Metcalf etc., for Rodgers when or if he does sign.”

The Cowboys are coming off a brutal 7-10 season in which they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Dallas parted ways with head coach Mike McCarthy after five seasons in charge and hired Brian Schottenheimer to lead the way moving forward. Schottenheimer spent the past three seasons with the Cowboys as both an analyst and the team’s offensive coordinator.