Emmitt: Are you sure Pickens is a 1 WR?

[Kingofholland]

When I look at Pickens on the field I don't see a top-5-NFL receiver, but I do see a receiver who makes a lot of plays and catches the ball better than any other receiver on the Cowboys.

He may not be the #1 receiver for every team out there because a few teams have all-around great receivers, but when it comes to making big plays and catching the ball, he does that really well.

If I had to pick between them and I needed a Cowboys receiver for a whole game, I would choose Lamb (assuming he gets the drop problem fixed), but if I needed a receiver on a game winning drive, I would choose Pickens.

To be clear, that's not bashing either receiver for anything (other than Lamb for the drops of course), but simply saying both receivers complement each other and the team quite well.

Lamb is the more complete receiver, but if I'm throwing up a hail mary I think Pickens has a higher probability to come down with it.

 

[exciter]

if that’s the case it’s like larry fitzgerald and who else lol

Lol,
Oh wow, a receiver has to be the 2nd coming of Fitzgerald to be consistent inside your noggin.

Hey, maybe start by just looking across the field.
Lamb... 5 consecutive 1k yard seasons (barely missed his rookie season) and 3 seasons 100 receptions.

Let's see if Pickens can string 2 together before we make him a top 5 paid receiver!

 

[exciter]

Pickens is modern day Moss, with more speed.

Huh?

 

[Zekeats]

paying 2 wr top wr money is insane. Means the qb is mediocre. This team wont win till Dak is gone and Jerry is gone

 

[quickccc]

In Cowboys championship years we had two top receivers. We didn’t call them WR 1 or WR 2. They both were top receivers and complimented each other.

Drew Pearson and Tony Hill
Michael Irvin and Alvin Harper

Pickens may have talent that is close to WR1 but he has baggage which isn’t. And we saw that in a couple games.

We can’t pay him WR1 market price but he is deserving of a substantial deal. But Id be cautious. I’d like to see a short term deal like 2 years.

I disagree ... i don't many that ever thought harper was a No.1 and featured type lead receiver.
i never considered Harper as a top WR. it was odd that he'd disappear several times in regular season, but surprisngly had some big shining moments in playoffs (especially vs Niners)

Has he ever made an All Pro or pro bowl in his entire career ? Nope.

Playoff No.2 complimentary - Harper ? i could see that.

But he wasn't the type to make us think of Holt & Bruce, ..Harrison & Wayne bookend.

 

[plasticman]

The worse case scenario is that Pickens will fit right in and carry on the traditions established by the Cowboys receivers before him.

Where do I start?

Two of our Hall of Fame receivers were notorious drug users who were always getting in trouble.

Bob Hayes, the "fastest man on the planet" couldn't outrun the law and did time in prison.

Michael Irvin's antics were legendary.

Speaking of which, Emmitt is voicing his concern about Pickens attitude. I don't recall him ever calling out Michael Irvin about his.

What could Pickens do that would be worse than Cowboys receiver Lance Rentzel who enjoyed exposing himself in front of young girls?......while he was married to actress Joey Heatherton.

Look her up on the internet and be amazed!

Terrel Owens......need I continue?

Did Pickens throw a towel in the face of Schottenheimer like Antonio Bryant did Parcells?

What did Picken's police blotter look like this season? How many drug charges? Domestic violence? Unregistered weapons?

Why are so many attempting to create turmoil where none exists? Picken did his job and now it is new contract time.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

Pickens is modern day Moss, with more speed.

You’re nuts if you think Pickens is faster than Moss

 

[Bobhaze]

When I look at Pickens on the field I don't see a top-5-NFL receiver, but I do see a receiver who makes a lot of plays and catches the ball better than any other receiver on the Cowboys.

He may not be the #1 receiver for every team out there because a few teams have all-around great receivers, but when it comes to making big plays and catching the ball, he does that really well.

If I had to pick between them and I needed a Cowboys receiver for a whole game, I would choose Lamb (assuming he gets the drop problem fixed), but if I needed a receiver on a game winning drive, I would choose Pickens.

To be clear, that's not bashing either receiver for anything (other than Lamb for the drops of course), but simply saying both receivers complement each other and the team quite well.

To me the real issue is why we feel we need to follow the Cincinnati Bengals model of cap usage.

IMO, putting a huge amount of cap space on the WR position is never going to get us back to championship territory.

Keeping Pickens would be nice. He’s a very talented player. Is keeping GP critical to getting to a SB again? No. It might even be a roadblock.

 

[Reality]

To me the real issue is why we feel we need to follow the Cincinnati Bengals model of cap usage.

IMO, putting a huge amount of cap space on the WR position is never going to get us back to championship territory.

Keeping Pickens would be nice. He’s a very talented player. Is keeping GP critical to getting to a SB again? No. It might even be a roadblock.

It really comes down to team identity.

Right now, the only identity they have is "great offense" paired with a "horrible defense".

As I've posted in other threads, I'm more optimistic that Parker can improve this defense than I was before Nolan, Quinn, Zimmer (second tour) and Eberflus coached their first Cowboys game.

That said, it still remains to be seen if he can improve the defense with the players they cannot replace in 2026.

Without the Cowboys offense in 2025, they would have been lucky to win 3 games. With that offense and a mid-tier defense the Cowboys might have won 10 or even 11 games.

I have said many times I'm not a fan of #1 receivers. I would rather have four #2 receivers because it makes it harder to game plan against you when the defense has no idea who will be featured on any given play and if you lose one to injury, you have more who can step in and not alter your offense.

That said, right now, the Cowboys are reliant on their offense scoring points until the defense proves otherwise.

Knowing that, I'm good with bringing back Pickens though I'm not keen on having two $30+ million receivers long-term.

Now, if Pickens would play for the franchise tag salary and play well like he did in 2025, that would be ideal because it would give the Cowboys a year with Parker to see if he can improve the defense enough to not have to score 30+ points every game to win.

So while I'm not fond of paying two receivers huge contracts, I do think having both Lamb and Pickens in 2026 would take some of the pressure off of Parker and the defense and allow the team time to figure out what works best with the defensive players they have and might target in 2027 as well.

 

[Diehardblues]

I disagree ... i don't many that ever thought harper was a No.1 and featured type lead receiver.
i never considered Harper as a top WR. it was odd that he'd disappear several times in regular season, but surprisngly had some big shining moments in playoffs (especially vs Niners)

Has he ever made an All Pro or pro bowl in his entire career ? Nope.

Playoff No.2 complimentary - Harper ? i could see that.

But he wasn't the type to make us think of Holt & Bruce, ..Harrison & Wayne bookend.

Idk. Harper was a 1st round pick too. Overall 12th pick in 1991 ( Irvin was 11th pick overall in 1988).

While I’d agree Irvin was our top receiver I’m not sure Harper was chop meat. And we did lose him in FA after his rookie contract where he became a WR 1.

Maybe some just didn’t think of him as a top receiver cause we had Irvin.

Harper was plagued by injuries after leaving Dallas and didn’t ever live up to his FA billing in Tampa.

 

[Diehardblues]

To me the real issue is why we feel we need to follow the Cincinnati Bengals model of cap usage.

IMO, putting a huge amount of cap space on the WR position is never going to get us back to championship territory.

Keeping Pickens would be nice. He’s a very talented player. Is keeping GP critical to getting to a SB again? No. It might even be a roadblock.

All good arguments by you and Reality. I’d prefer possibly just placing tag on him and see how this year develops with defense.

My only problem with letting him go in FA is we gave up a 3rd round pick for him I guess just to make a push in 2025.

And I’d argue that once we saw 2025 going down the tube perhaps we should have traded him last year for some return draft capital.

Otherwise it comes off like we just wasted a 2nd days draft pick to prop up Dak and the offense for another wasted season which we had hoped would be a more serious or deeper playoff run.

Or maybe we didn’t think Pickens would make such an impact and be easier to resign for less. IDK. But I certainly don’t think looking back now he was worth our 3rd round pick in 2026 and 5th pick in 2027 for one non playoff season.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

To me the real issue is why we feel we need to follow the Cincinnati Bengals model of cap usage.

IMO, putting a huge amount of cap space on the WR position is never going to get us back to championship territory.

Keeping Pickens would be nice. He’s a very talented player. Is keeping GP critical to getting to a SB again? No. It might even be a roadblock.

Jerry falls for it everytime. Offense sells tickets. Well Offense has never really been the problem this century.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

Idk. Harper was a 1st round pick too. Overall 12th pick in 1991 ( Irvin was 11th pick overall in 1988).

While I’d agree Irvin was our top receiver I’m not sure Harper was chop meat. And we did lose him in FA after his rookie contract where he became a WR 1.

Maybe some just didn’t think of him as a top receiver cause we had Irvin.

Harper was plagued by injuries after leaving Dallas and didn’t ever live up to his FA billing in Tampa.

I was a big Harper fan. I know everyone talks about the triplets but the offense really cooked when Harper and Novacek were part of it.

 

[Diehardblues]

I was a big Harper fan. I know everyone talks about the triplets but the offense really cooked when Harper and Novacek were part of it.

Harper was a great compliment for Irvin. And I’m not sure we ever duplicated that strength again.

In Cap era though it’s extremely difficult to warrant paying two WR 1 contracts . And why it’s probably more strategic to find complimentary WR in draft so doesn’t impact Cap.

And WR are easier to find in draft than many positions. Just draft one every 4 or 5 years to either compliment or become new WR 1.

 

[JW82]

Pickens is a #1 on probably 25 teams. Sorry E, you're still my guy.

 

[Coogiguy03]

When I look at Pickens on the field I don't see a top-5-NFL receiver, but I do see a receiver who makes a lot of plays and catches the ball better than any other receiver on the Cowboys.

He may not be the #1 receiver for every team out there because a few teams have all-around great receivers, but when it comes to making big plays and catching the ball, he does that really well.

If I had to pick between them and I needed a Cowboys receiver for a whole game, I would choose Lamb (assuming he gets the drop problem fixed), but if I needed a receiver on a game winning drive, I would choose Pickens.

To be clear, that's not bashing either receiver for anything (other than Lamb for the drops of course), but simply saying both receivers complement each other and the team quite well.

Really good stuff right here, so let's be honest Reality with all that you said right here, what's his worth???? TO you?

 

[Coogiguy03]

I get what he's saying. Seems he just has a different opinion of what a number 1 is than most people.

which is nothing wrong it's just his opinion, some on here think he should say what they want him to say

 

[Diehardblues]

Really good stuff right here, so let's be honest Reality with all that you said right here, what's his worth???? TO you?

I’m thinking maybe we shouldn’t have paid Ferguson as much. I’m not sure we really have solidified our TE position.

So now if we pay Pickens market price how much do we have invested in QB, WR1, WR2 & TE in relation to total cap.

I’d like to see that . That might be a telling number.

 

[Coogiguy03]

I’m thinking maybe we shouldn’t have paid Ferguson as much. I’m not sure we really have solidified our TE position.

So now if we pay Pickens market price how much do we have invested in QB, WR1, WR2 & TE in relation to total cap.

I’d like to see that . That might be a telling number.

Diehard you're on fire this morning!!!!!!!!!!! Just another one of those home grown players we had that we should have waited another season on, but paid him based on years prior which were solid at best. Fans on here excused it saying it was a "good deal" so i'm not sure, but I agree with you totally!!!



Then you possibly bring back williams, this could get expensive and are we really that GREAT with these players making this much money

 

[charron]

He does lack some of the consistent drive most of the greatest players have but his skills, talent, ability are all there.