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The Dallas Cowboys offense just got a significant boost ahead of the 2025 season. The Texas team completed the trade of wide receiver George Pickens, from the Pittsburgh Steelers, who arrives to complement CeeDee Lamb and offer Dak Prescott a more solid duo in the aerial game. With this addition, the Cowboys are betting on strengthening one of their most explosive areas, although not without controversy.
The receiver, known for both his talent and his difficult character, did not have a peaceful exit from Pittsburgh, and his arrival in Dallas has been viewed with skepticism by some analysts. For Colin Cowherd, the move represents a risky gamble by Jerry Jones, owner of the Cowboys, whom he accuses of putting the spectacular above the functional.
"This receiver is volatile and immature, and he's not going to be happy if Lamb gets 12 es and he only gets four," he warned on his show The Herd. "Dallas is now the land of the misfit kids."
Doubts about offensive balance
Beyond Pickens' behavior, the real problem for the Cowboys could be their tactical identity. That's according to analyst Landon Holifield of Athlon Sports, who believes that a lack of versatility, both in the ground attack and on defense, will limit the aspirations of Prescott and company. "You can have all the receivers in the world, but if you don't control the game on the ground, you're not going to win in January, in the cold, when every yard counts," he said.
Pickens' arrival could reconfigure Dallas' offensive scheme, and for former coach Jason Garrett, that change can be positive if the receiver can adapt. "Dak can work with whoever, he gets the best out of everybody," he said on PFT Live. Garrett also pointed out that the key will be Lamb's flexibility: "You can move CeeDee as F, as Z, on the inside... he's great at that. And Pickens can take the role of X receiver."
The challenge for the Cowboys will be to achieve cohesion in a locker room with intense and often disparate personalities. With voluntary workouts scheduled to begin on May 19 and mandatory minicamp set for June 10-12, time to integrate Pickens into the system will be limited.