My take on what to do with George Pickens

[john van brocklin]

john,

im startin to think jerry doesn't know what he's doin

Ya think?
The last 30 years should give you an idea.

 

[Bobhaze]

Defense didn’t give up 48, I like how yall skew numbers. Dak himself gifted packers 14 to start the game. Pick six and another on our own 19 with no rest for defense. 48-14=34 genius. Yhat doesn’t even include the turnovers on downs

Your facts are incorrect. Yes Dak played terribly and I have no defense for him at all. But the defense was bad first. Here are the actual facts of how the game went down.

• Packers took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards in 12 plays. 7-0 packers before offense touched the ball.
• Cowboys went three and out on first possession.
• Packers go 6 plays but had to punt.
• Dallas second possession, Dak throws bad interception. Pack goes 19 yds in 3 plays, scores another TD, 14-0 GB.
• Dallas third possession. Cowboys go 39 yards, but sack and penalty force a punt.
• Packers go 93 yards in 12 plays. Miss the XP. 20-0 GB.
• Dallas drives 35 yards then Dak throws horrible pick 6. It’s 27-0 GB
• Dallas drives 55 yards in 12 plays scores TD. 27-7 at half.
• 3rd qtr Dallas drives 65 yds in 12 plays, settles for FG. 27-10.
• GB first possession 2nd half. Drives 75 in 5 plays, TD makes it 34-10.
• Dallas drives 88 yds in 11 plays, scores TD, goes for 2 doesn’t make it. 34-16 GB.
• When we absolutely need a stop, GB goes 75 yds in 3 plays. TD makes it 41-16.
• Down 41-16, offense picks up 1 FD, goes for it on 4th, d9nt make it. Turnover on downs.
• GB drives 40 yards in 8 plays, scores TD making 48-16.
• Cowboys score two late TDS to make final 48-32.

Dak threw 2 horrible INTs, 1 for a pick six. He played bad for sure. The defense gave up drives of 75, 75, 75 and 93 yards. Two of those drives when we absolutely had to have a stop. Two shorter drives - one of 19 after Dak’s first pick, and one of 40 after turnover on downs. And of course the pick six.

Those are the facts of that game in the order it happened. Dak, the defense and every other player on that team sucked that day.

But just to be crystal clear our defense was just as atrocious as Dak…if not more so. Here is the link to the box score:

Packers 48-32 Cowboys (Jan 14, 2024) Final Score​

https://www.espn.com/nfl/game/_/gameId/401547752/packers-cowboys

 

[plasticman]

Jerry Jones adores the WR position.

They are always the most exciting playmakers. They can change momentum quickly. They almost always have the brash, cocky confidence.

If Jerry could play in the NFL and choose his position I have no doubt it would be WR. It mashes his personality.

Jerry has a history of overpaying WRs and he will do it again with Pickens.

 

[Swagger]

Keeping Pickens and CDL keeps Dak's numbers looking good. That in turn makes the Front Office feel good about making him the highest paid QB.

Dak lead the league again in passing yards, why do you want to disrupt that OP?

One day having a passing attack with no defense will pay off, why not next year?

Like it or not, we are going to drag on his contract, while tagging him, eating up a lot of current year cap space. Dallas will restructure guys like Smith, CDL, Dak to just get under the cap and then SJ will then spew garbage about how they are committed to winning and there's only so much cap to go around.

We will pray that the 1st rounders land quality year 1 defensive starters. Sign some journeymen defensive players to one year deals.

lol

This is exactly what will happen and why it will happen.

Put simply, signing Pickens helps justify Dak's contract as he catches almost anything thrown near him thus helping massage and jazz up those stats for Dak.

 

[ArtClink]

We need to throw a ton of money at Pickens. Don’t franchise him, but sign him to a five year deal making him the highest paid WR, I’m sorry “pass catcher” in the NFL. That should really improve our defense.

 

[Blackrain]

No, I’m just saying the 2023 Cowboys defense did not play well when it counted most against stiffer competition. Against the best offenses we played in 2023, we gave up 42, 31 and 48 points.

Regular season accomplishments are important but only in relationship to what they translate to in the playoffs.

The 2023 defense gave up 48 points in our only playoff game. Whatever it was in the regular season, unfortunately it clearly didn’t amount to much in the playoffs.

That was what I called Dan Quinn's perfect Storm defense.

Find a mediocre team that couldn't run the ball and get up a touchdown or 10 points and unleash the pass Rush.

In the regular season when we met teams that could run the ball they would punch Us in the mouth and we would get beat.
Our pass rush was not helping us at that point.

And of course in the playoffs everybody's good pretty well balanced can run the ball and you know you're going to lose because your defense is one-dimensional and can't stop the run.

 

[Diehardblues]

As bad as our defense was , which historically only our 1960 expansion team was worse , if we had beat 3 losing record teams in Az, Car and Wash in finale we would have been 7th seed at 10-6-1.

We would have lost in 1st round probably but with an incredible horrid defense would have been quite a difference and more to build on.

I believe the difference in getting over that hump would have been resigning Parsons which would have helped elevate horrific defense.

Wow, what a different vibe going into next season still needing to revamp defense after a playoff season knowing what our weaknesses are but on a more upward trend.

Now, pending how well we do in draft and or FA will determine if we are 1, 2 or more years away from contending for playoffs again.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

DLaw gone, Lewis gone , Parsons gone, Kendrick gone, nashawn wright gone, I'm sorry y'all at some point we have to start keeping players. It seems every time one of our players accelerates is game to a high level we start trying to figure out a way to get rid of them.

As for Pickens... I have said all alone I'm not ready to give him a long-term contract but I'm not ready to get rid of him either. Let's use 2026 to see what happens. Hell I may decide to keep him and get rid of the lamb. But we had one of the best offenses in the league if our defense was just average we would have made the playoff

We finally get the offense where we want it and now you want remove one of his best players.
If I'm being honest our defense is already better by firing defensive coordinator. Add three high draft picks I don't think they need a question we're better than we were this past season.

 

[ConstantReboot]

Don’t get me wrong I like Pickens too. A lot as a matter of fact. I’m just saying we don’t need two top paid WRs when we have perhaps the least talented defense in the NFL.

So if we keep Pickens, maybe we trade Lamb.

I'm all for keeping Pickens. He isn't the one that's broken—the defense is.

You don't fix the defense by destroying the offense. You fix the defense by drafting good defensive players and by letting the head coach hire his own assistants, something we haven't done in a long time.

 

[Blackrain]

As bad as our defense was , which historically only our 1960 expansion team was worse , if we had beat 3 losing record teams in Az, Car and Wash in finale we would have been 7th seed at 10-6-1.

We would have lost in 1st round probably but with an incredible horrid defense would have been quite a difference and more to build on.

I believe the difference in getting over that hump would have been resigning Parsons which would have helped elevate horrific defense.

Wow, what a different vibe going into next season still needing to revamp defense after a playoff season knowing what our weaknesses are but on a more upward trend.

Now, pending how well we do in draft and or FA will determine if we are 1, 2 or more years away from contending for playoffs again.

No I can't agree with that we have already played the one and done game enough and we would not go into the off season better off we would draft worse.

And for goodness sake one and done would not have given us a different vibe not that we needed one to know what our weaknesses are my lands the whole NFL knows what our weaknesses are the problem is getting Jerry to attend to them and participate in free agency

Worse yet it would make Jerry think he could get away with doing less because we made the playoffs.

With a losing season and missing the playoffs.
There is some urgency to make a concentrated effort on fixing this mess.

 

[Blackrain]

I'm all for keeping Pickens. He isn't the one that's broken—the defense is.

You don't fix the defense by destroying the offense. You fix the defense by drafting good defensive players and by letting the head coach hire his own assistants, something we haven't done in a long time.

Exactly brother if it's not broken don't try and fix it we have a great receiver tandem let's try to keep it intact.

Before we had a pass rush and couldn't stop the run now we have added players that can stop the run and we need to use some draft picks or free agency to add some pass rush this isn't rocket science and can be easily accomplished with the resources we have without disrupting our offense.

The bottom line is to get further in the playoffs you have to stop the run

 

[maryquality]

DLaw gone, Lewis gone , Parsons gone, Kendrick gone, nashawn wright gone, I'm sorry y'all at some point we have to start keeping players. It seems every time one of our players accelerates is game to a high level we start trying to figure out a way to get rid of them.

As for Pickens... I have said all alone I'm not ready to give him a long-term contract but I'm not ready to get rid of him either. Let's use 2026 to see what happens. Hell I may decide to keep him and get rid of the lamb. But we had one of the best offenses in the league if our defense was just average we would have made the playoff

We finally get the offense where we want it and now you want remove one of his best players.
If I'm being honest our defense is already better by firing defensive coordinator. Add three high draft picks I don't think they need a question we're better than we were this past season.

I agree with you. You can't tell me our offense will be the same without him. And, who would you choose to be WR#1b?? I like Flounoy, but he is nowhere near as good as Pickens.

 

[Blackrain]

I agree with you. You can't tell me our offense will be the same without him. And, who would you choose to be WR#1b?? I like Flounoy, but he is nowhere near as good as Pickens.

Pickens is one of the very few players that steps up in big moments and make some big catches.
He borders on being a clutch player IMO.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

Exactly brother if it's not broken don't try and fix it we have a great receiver tandem let's try to keep it intact.

Before we had a pass rush and couldn't stop the run now we have added players that can stop the run and we need to use some draft picks or free agency to add some pass rush this isn't rocket science and can be easily accomplished with the resources we have without disrupting our offense.

The bottom line is to get further in the playoffs you have to stop the run

Imagine an offense so good it goes out and dictate exactly what it's going to do there's nothing to defense can do to stop it. That's how good our office is with Pickens. Why do we want to mess with that.

 

[blueblood70]

Great post and those that disagree only are doing so bc they want Daks inflated stats vs winning.

Well if they're paying attention Prescott's done this and had better years without having a second receiver like Pickens it's not just him that elevated this offense it was Williams in the run game It was a better play caller etcetera.

I mean 2023 one of the best pass games we've ever had I mean CD Lamb now owns the record for a single season receiving record since 1960 he was also an MVP candidate along with Prescott that year so it was not George Pickens only that gets quarterbacks like prescott their stats they get them anyway...

Mean when Lamb was hurt didn't Flournoy have a couple 100 yard games I mean you'll act like that's it and I'm not saying you but anybody that thinks it was just George Pickens that made this offense top three in the league they weren't paying attention there were plenty of those in Prescott's career...

 

[blueblood70]

I agree with you. You can't tell me our offense will be the same without him. And, who would you choose to be WR#1b?? I like Flounoy, but he is nowhere near as good as Pickens.

Prescott spinner part of top five offenses and number one offenses without George Pickens as a matter of fact he just needs one great wide receiver a strong run game and a better play caller and we have that even without Pickens no doubt Pickens makes it easier but Prescott always finds a way I mean when Lamb was out Flournoy had two 100 yard games It only takes one elite receiver to open up the offense as long as you have a run game and it's not the only thing you're trying to do is force the ball to them...


Like I said this is just a few examples but this was without George Pickens I know Amari might have been there in 2021 but either way they do not need George Pickens for Prescott and his offense to be successful they need a better defense to win more games if he didn't look at the records you'd see that those were the years we had Dan Quinn and a better defense made a record better but Prescott remained what he has always been as one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the league and if you give him a good set of receivers with one elite receiver in CD Lamb this can go if they can even improve on the run game more next year I'm not worried about losing Pickens more than I am worried about the defense and that means we probably have to trade Pickens and save $30 million..

And I looked up Amari Coopers numbers in 2021 which is his last year here he only played 15 games he had like 865 yards and eight touchdowns,

i'm pretty sure if you feed Flournoy or the receiver you're going to get in the draft, that we keep overlooking, that we're going to use some of the draft capital from the trade to get another receiver ,

who'll do just fine...

2021	28	DAL	NFL	QB	16	16	11-5-0	410	596	68.8	4449	37	6.2	10

Nearly identical numbers but more touchdowns...

2023	30	DAL	NFL	QB	17	17	12-5-0	410	590	69.5	4516	36	6.1	9

More yards tds and less INTs

2025	32	DAL	NFL	QB	17	17	7-9-1	404	600	67.3	4552	30	5.0	10

 

[GMO415]

George Pickens is clearly an outstanding receiver with huge talent and at the young age of 24, is without question a top 10 WR in pro football. We saw this on obvious display this year. And he will garner a very large payday soon.

And yet….I know this won’t be a popular opinion…keeping George Pickens will not make the Dallas Cowboys any closer to a championship than we were this year. I will even say keeping him may actually hinder us from taking the next step to get appreciably better on defense.

Here’s why I believe this:

• Keeping Pickens (and Cedee Lamb) either on the franchise tag or a market based long term contract will make the Cowboys have the most expensive WR room in the NFL. (The bengals currently hold that honor)
• Having the most talented and expensive WR combo doesn’t win championships. It’s a nice luxury but a luxury nonetheless.
• IMO we should either trade Pickens or Lamb to add to the draft capital we desperately need to improve our defense. A defense that is literally one of the least talented in the league.

We need a good offense with just one great WR. Pick one. We need some help at RB and need to shore up the OL some too.

Yes, you have to have a good offense but defense is always going to dictate playoff success. Here’s my formula:

• You have to have a good offense and decent D to make the playoffs.
• You have to have a good offense and really good defense to win a playoff game.
• You have to have a good offense and great defense to win a championship.
• Or a good offense, a really good D and a transcendent QB to win a championship.

We need to trade either Pickens or Lamb, and work like hell on getting a defense that can get stops when you absolutely have to have one. Great defenses can stop offenses with guys like George Pickens. But great offenses alone are never enough.

Time to put a ton of resources into a great defense. We’ve had decades of good offense and what do we have to show for it?

BULLET!!!!
SF is winning playoffs with a 4th string WR, a FB, RB and a second string TE. Why does DAL need two #1 WRs?

 

[Rayman70]

DLaw gone, Lewis gone , Parsons gone, Kendrick gone, nashawn wright gone, I'm sorry y'all at some point we have to start keeping players. It seems every time one of our players accelerates is game to a high level we start trying to figure out a way to get rid of them.

As for Pickens... I have said all alone I'm not ready to give him a long-term contract but I'm not ready to get rid of him either. Let's use 2026 to see what happens. Hell I may decide to keep him and get rid of the lamb. But we had one of the best offenses in the league if our defense was just average we would have made the playoff

We finally get the offense where we want it and now you want remove one of his best players.
If I'm being honest our defense is already better by firing defensive coordinator. Add three high draft picks I don't think they need a question we're better than we were this past season.

Micah asked to be gone. Literally. Aside from Micah, your right. Getting rid of Pickens has instant regret written all over it. Like you said, maybe tag him or sign him to a reasonable short extension. Maybe sign him to a short 3 year extension by which we can escape the deal after each season...voiding the cap ramifications or at least minimizing them. I might trade ceedee. Agree.

 

[FVSTONE]

George Pickens is clearly an outstanding receiver with huge talent and at the young age of 24, is without question a top 10 WR in pro football. We saw this on obvious display this year. And he will garner a very large payday soon.

And yet….I know this won’t be a popular opinion…keeping George Pickens will not make the Dallas Cowboys any closer to a championship than we were this year. I will even say keeping him may actually hinder us from taking the next step to get appreciably better on defense.

Here’s why I believe this:

• Keeping Pickens (and Cedee Lamb) either on the franchise tag or a market based long term contract will make the Cowboys have the most expensive WR room in the NFL. (The bengals currently hold that honor)
• Having the most talented and expensive WR combo doesn’t win championships. It’s a nice luxury but a luxury nonetheless.
• IMO we should either trade Pickens or Lamb to add to the draft capital we desperately need to improve our defense. A defense that is literally one of the least talented in the league.

We need a good offense with just one great WR. Pick one. We need some help at RB and need to shore up the OL some too.

Yes, you have to have a good offense but defense is always going to dictate playoff success. Here’s my formula:

• You have to have a good offense and decent D to make the playoffs.
• You have to have a good offense and really good defense to win a playoff game.
• You have to have a good offense and great defense to win a championship.
• Or a good offense, a really good D and a transcendent QB to win a championship.

We need to trade either Pickens or Lamb, and work like hell on getting a defense that can get stops when you absolutely have to have one. Great defenses can stop offenses with guys like George Pickens. But great offenses alone are never enough.

Time to put a ton of resources into a great defense. We’ve had decades of good offense and what do we have to show for it?

Bobby, another great post! I'm in favor of trading CeeDee. The guy looks like one of those players who finally got paid and doesn't want to work any harder than he did when he was playing for a big money contract.

 

[Blackrain]

BULLET!!!!
SF is winning playoffs with a 4th string WR, a FB, RB and a second string TE. Why does DAL need two #1 WRs?

It's very very simple our coaching sucks.
And it sucks because Jerry hires coaches with his comfort level as the priority not how talented they are at coaching.

So in contrast to San Francisco who has an elite coaching staff we have to add twice as much talent to get even close to the same level of success.

Jerry is not hiring anyone talented enough to take any of the spotlight for his glory away from him.

But he has proven in the past he loves the wide receiver position and doesn't mind throwing talent at it.

So as a Cowboys fan you have to learn how to tolerate this dysfunctional situation and accept the talent where Jerry's willing to put it.