Stephen Jones discusses Cowboys acquiring George Pickens from the Steelers

Much has been said and written since the morning of May 7 about how head coach Mike Tomlin and Pittsburgh Steelers players were essentially done with wide receiver George Pickens before the club agreed to trade Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys. 

Cowboys chief operating officer and co-owner Stephen Jones spoke with NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated about why the club took a flier on Pickens following the 2025 NFL Draft. 

"He’s just a dynamic receiver," Jones said about Pickens. "Everybody says we’re looking for a [No. 2 receiver behind CeeDee Lamb]. I mean, George can be a one. He’s got that type of talent. He’s got unbelievable ball-tracking ability. He’s got plenty of juice, and he’s a fiery competitor. And we love that he plays with an edge, and we think he’d be a good fit for our team."

As shown by ESPN stats, Pickens was Pittsburgh's WR1 across the past two seasons. That said, the Steelers handing DK Metcalf a five-year, $150M contract earlier this offseason left the club feeling it didn't have to make a financial commitment to Pickens as he prepares to play on the final year of his rookie deal.

From the fall of 2023 through the 2024 season, Pickens routinely caused headaches for Tomlin that the coach may have been able to ignore had the 24-year-old also produced at an elite level. Instead, Pickens finished this past campaign with 59 receptions for 900 yards and just three touchdowns. The fact that Pickens reportedly "wanted to play for a team with some stability at quarterback" likely made it that much easier for the Steelers to, as Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio put it, tell the 2022 second-round draft pick to "get lost." 

In the end, the Cowboys sent the Steelers a 2026 third-round draft selection and a 2027 fifth-rounder for Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round pick.

According to Breer, the Cowboys did "homework" on Pickens before they ultimately decided that they felt he "could grow in a new environment." Meanwhile, Jon Machota of The Athletic noted in a different article published on Monday that there's a "chance" Pickens would accept "something in the $25M (per year) range" to re-sign with the Cowboys if he has a solid season and wants to make Dallas his long-term football home. 

To compare, Lamb received a four-year, $136M deal from the Cowboys last summer.