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Seth Walder
THE Dallas Cowboys Wednesday morning I made a big dip, accepting a trade For a large receiver George Pickens. They will send a choice of the third round of 2026 and a choice of the fifth round of 2027 at Pittsburgh Steelers For Pickens and a choice of the sixth round of 2027.
Cowboys had looked for a legitimate WR2 together Ceedee Lamband pickens Should raise their offense. But is Pickens surely the answer for Dallas? And did Pittsburgh have enough in return?
We reduce both sides. Who actually won the agreement? I am evaluating the trade based on multiple factors, including the impact on the field, the overall value for each part, the implications of the salary limit and the context of the short and long -term QB perspectives of each team.
Dallas Classification Pickens
After transmitting the large position of the receiver entirely in this year’s draft, the Cowboys have finally obtained their second receiver to integrate the lamb. Pickens also adapts with the lamb. It is an external vertical receiver that will allow Lamb to maintain its strong dosage of slot alignments in the Cowboys offense. Pickens ran paths and deeply vanishes 19% of the time last season, the tenth highest rate among receivers with at least 300 routes. He managed 900 yard in 14 games in 2024 and hit 1,140 yard reception in 2023. And he published a strong 2.2 yard race per course in both years.
According to the Espn player based on monitoring RECEPTER scoresPickens has shown a growth in his ability to open up from his beginner season. He had an open score of 48 in 2022, but this has risen to 70 and 68 in the last two years, respectively. However, his capture score came down from a maximum of 99 in his beginner year to 72 in 2023 and then 40 last season. It seems the profile of a player who could see a positive regression, since the ability of a receiver to open up is more stable from year to year than his ability to take expectations.
So on paper, this move makes much sense for cowboys. Although 2024 went for this team, the roster still has the same core as it went 12-5 in 2023 (even if with a different coach) and had a serious weakness to the receiver after Lamb. Giving up the shade more than a choice of the third round for a year of Pickens is reasonable, considering at least it will cost the cowboys (less than $ 3.4 million) than it would do on the open market.
But this move is not made only on paper. A large part of the reason that Pickens is available is that it seems that the Steelers have had enough of him. After Pickens had two anti -sports penalties against the Bengali Last season, Steelers Mike Tomlin’s coach he said“He has a target on his back because he is George; he understands it. But he has to grow. He has to grow quickly.” Then after the season, Tomlin he said“There is certainly more space for growth there.” At the beginning of the season, there were also questions about Pickens’ effort, even if Tomlin fired Those concerns at that moment.
The risk here is mitigated by the commitment of a year and if I were the cowboys, I would like to keep it in this way. They should let him play the season and probably let him walk out of season in exchange for the possibility of a compensatory choice. If Dallas signs the withdrawal of an extension before the 2025 season, I would basically reduce his vote here.
For the Steelers, this is a good compensation. The League widely knew she wanted to go to Pickens and still received a 2nd day collection.
Pittsburgh already acquired Replacement of pickens in Dk metcalf before this offseason. While the two Wideouts could have played together, there is an obvious overlap in their styles, and it certainly seems that the acquisition of Metcalf was in anticipation of the loss of Pickens. However, the Steelers once again have a receiver problem. Behind Metcalf on the depth graph there are Calvin Austin III, Robert Woods AND Roman Wilson.
The last piece of the puzzle is how this refers Aaron Rodgers. Without a second receiver next to Metcalf, Pittsburgh is much further away from being an immediate contender. This makes Rodgers’ involvement a little more difficult to justify, even if the Options of the Steelers at QB are extremely limited with the draft in the rear -view mirror. Perhaps Kirk Cousins Could it be another path?
Degree for cowboys: B-
Grade for the Steelers: B+
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