The Pros and Cons of acquiring George Pickens

Bobhaze

Bobhaze

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The Dallas Cowboys desperately needed some help at the WR position and Jerry got aggressive and traded for the Steelers mercurial receiver George Pickens for a reasonable cost. No one would question Pickens’ talent.

To me, the good news of this trade outweighs the potential bad news.
THE GOOD NEWS (PROS)
  • Pickens is a real first round talent, who at 24 has huge upside. If he can show more maturity here, he as a chance to be a stud.
  • Pickens averages over 16 yards per catch in his career and has shown some consistency in getting open and making plays.
  • He has averaged about 60 receptions for 1,000 yds in his first three seasons, which is certainly very good for the role we need him to be here.
  • He’s been durable, playing in every game in 2022 and ‘23, and 14 last year.
  • He didn’t cost a fortune and has the potential to give this offense some juice it desperately needs
THE POTENTIAL BAD NEWS (CONS)
  • He has been one of the most fined players in the NFL for taunting and silly unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, accumulating nearly $300k in fines.
  • He has a tendency to reduce effort and disappear when he is not targeted.
  • His target to reception ratio has been 59% but he has not played for the most accurate passers the last 3 years.
  • He only has one more year on his rookie contract. If he has a great season will JJ pay market price to keep him?
Overall I like this trade. Pickens gives this offense a real weapon and should force defenses to have to account for more than just Lamb. He didn’t cost a fortune either.

Key questions remain- Can GP grow up and become a more complete player and maximize his potential? Will he become a one year rental or will JJ be able to lock him down in a second contract?

It’s going to be fun waiting to see.
 
Bobhaze said:
The Dallas Cowboys desperately needed some help at the WR position and Jerry got aggressive and traded for the Steelers mercurial receiver George Pickens for a reasonable cost. No one would question Pickens’ talent.

To me, the good news of this trade outweighs the potential bad news.
THE GOOD NEWS (PROS)
  • Pickens is a real first round talent, who at 24 has huge upside. If he can show more maturity here, he as a chance to be a stud.
  • Pickens averages over 16 yards per catch in his career and has shown some consistency in getting open and making plays.
  • He has averaged about 60 receptions for 1,000 yds in his first three seasons, which is certainly very good for the role we need him to be here.
  • He’s been durable, playing in every game in 2022 and ‘23, and 14 last year.
  • He didn’t cost a fortune and has the potential to give this offense some juice it desperately needs
THE POTENTIAL BAD NEWS (CONS)
  • He has been one of the most fined players in the NFL for taunting and silly unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, accumulating nearly $300k in fines.
  • He has a tendency to reduce effort and disappear when he is not targeted.
  • His target to reception ratio has been 59% but he has not played for the most accurate passers the last 3 years.
  • He only has one more year on his rookie contract. If he has a great season will JJ pay market price to keep him?
Overall I like this trade. Pickens gives this offense a real weapon and should force defenses to have to account for more than just Lamb. He didn’t cost a fortune either.

Key questions remain- Can GP grow up and become a more complete player and maximize his potential? Will he become a one year rental or will JJ be able to lock him down in a second contract?

It’s going to be fun waiting to see.
Click to expand...
It is a contract year. So I am going guess we will see a different version of Pickens this season.
 
Bobhaze said:
The Dallas Cowboys desperately needed some help at the WR position and Jerry got aggressive and traded for the Steelers mercurial receiver George Pickens for a reasonable cost. No one would question Pickens’ talent.

To me, the good news of this trade outweighs the potential bad news.
THE GOOD NEWS (PROS)
  • Pickens is a real first round talent, who at 24 has huge upside. If he can show more maturity here, he as a chance to be a stud.
  • Pickens averages over 16 yards per catch in his career and has shown some consistency in getting open and making plays.
  • He has averaged about 60 receptions for 1,000 yds in his first three seasons, which is certainly very good for the role we need him to be here.
  • He’s been durable, playing in every game in 2022 and ‘23, and 14 last year.
  • He didn’t cost a fortune and has the potential to give this offense some juice it desperately needs
THE POTENTIAL BAD NEWS (CONS)
  • He has been one of the most fined players in the NFL for taunting and silly unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, accumulating nearly $300k in fines.
  • He has a tendency to reduce effort and disappear when he is not targeted.
  • His target to reception ratio has been 59% but he has not played for the most accurate passers the last 3 years.
  • He only has one more year on his rookie contract. If he has a great season will JJ pay market price to keep him?
Overall I like this trade. Pickens gives this offense a real weapon and should force defenses to have to account for more than just Lamb. He didn’t cost a fortune either.

Key questions remain- Can GP grow up and become a more complete player and maximize his potential? Will he become a one year rental or will JJ be able to lock him down in a second contract?

It’s going to be fun waiting to see.
Click to expand...
I think your CONS list could probably use a few more bullet points due to the off the field concerns and his inability to separate.

I would’ve gone another direction but at least Jerry is swinging the bat and trying.
 
Aven8 said:
The kid is just so complimentary for this offense it’s just uncanny. He now allows the offense, Lamb, and Dak to thoroughly run it finally. His best bet is to play out of his mind and earn his next payday.
Click to expand...
I hope he does that. I’m wondering too if he could price his way out of here. Surely he won’t become a one year rental.
cnuball21 said:
I think your CONS list could probably use a few more bullet points due to the off the field concerns and his inability to separate.

I would’ve gone another direction but at least Jerry is swinging the bat and trying.
Click to expand...
From what I’ve seen, Pickens in not a big problem off the field. He hasn’t been in trouble with the law for example. He’s been more of a problem on the field with his immaturity issues.
 
cnuball21 said:
I think your CONS list could probably use a few more bullet points due to the off the field concerns and his inability to separate.

I would’ve gone another direction but at least Jerry is swinging the bat and trying.
Click to expand...
What has he done off the field? The players like him.
 
I think the x-factor that pushed this trade through was Schott's familiarity with Pickens at Georgia being his OC there. It will be interesting to see how their interactions will be and if translates on the field.

As others have said, I think he'll be on his best behavior just because it is a contract year. I can't see JJ NOT trying to re-sign him if he shows even a little success since he doesn't want egg on his face again via a trade. Not only that, he'd jump at doing so at the thought of possibly getting him cheaper than waiting till the end of the year. Then again, we haven't seen that happen in a long while so everything will be a wait and see.
 
Last edited:
cnuball21 said:
I think your CONS list could probably use a few more bullet points due to the off the field concerns and his inability to separate.

I would’ve gone another direction but at least Jerry is swinging the bat and trying.
Click to expand...
There is no off the field concerns. Just listen to Pitt beat writers. They will tell you the issue with him. They aren’t sugar coating his immaturity and his issues. But being a bad guy or off the field issues isn’t something that’s been spoken of.
 
Bobhaze said:
I hope he does that. I’m wondering too if he could price his way out of here. Surely he won’t become a one year rental.
Click to expand...
It's a valid question. JJ wouldn't want to lose him but if he recoups that 3rd (compensatory), he might just let him go if he asks for too much. It would have to be a crazy season for him to think he's close to a top 10 wr level contract.

Other thing to factor is how the Parsons signing might affect Perkins' future deal, based on what's left in cap space as well as the relationship with his agent (who is also Perkins' agent). If it goes sour, Perkins' could play hard ball especially if he feels he has a market.
 
Bobhaze said:
I hope he does that. I’m wondering too if he could price his way out of here. Surely he won’t become a one year rental.

From what I’ve seen, Pickens in not a big problem off the field. He hasn’t been in trouble with the law for example. He’s been more of a problem on the field with his immaturity issues.
Click to expand...
- Suspended for fighting at UGA
- Off multiple teams draft boards for character concerns according to McGinn
- Fines over 200K in 23 for missing meetings and being late to team activities
- Has called out OC / QBs in the media
- Has ben benched for lack of effort
- Unnecessary penalties
- 90K in fines in 24 for being late to meetings and a game

You can classify these however you want just want to make sure we’re painting an honest picture about him.
 
I am fine with taking a chance on the player ....... he is very very talented.

My problem with this whole scenerio is how the front office builds this team from the outside in instead of the inside out.

Hopefully with 2 number one recievers we will not have the same failures in the playoffs.
 
montgod said:
I think the x-factor that pushed this trade through was Schott's familiarity with Pickens at Georgia being his OC there. It will be interesting to see how their interactions will be and if translates on the field.
Click to expand...
good point
 
Jerry should get ahead of this now and attempt to get him a renewed contract, cheaper today than tomorrow.
 
Bobhaze said:
  • He has a tendency to reduce effort and disappear when he is not targeted.
Click to expand...
Was watching a lot of his plays. Very good contested ball catcher. Actually think he would rather have a 50/50 ball just to beat the DB, etc...
He might be in trouble here. Dak doesn't really throw for that type of receiver. If Dak is throwing an INT he just throws it right to the defender lol.
 
Also... things like taunting are some of the dumbest wussy penalties in the NFL.
 
i hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate the first round talent crap. ITs cheap, its low, its easy to say. Not everyone taken in the first round is first round talent, and the combine is not an exact science.

Right now, he catches the ball, shocking, i know, someone paid to do their job does thier job. Everything was easy in Pittsburgh, a good qb to throw to you, nice good offense, an OC who understands his job.

That may or may not be the case in Dallas., we have more moving parts as a teams go, and at this moment we dont even know if our coaches know their jobs.

Has Dak regressed? its easy to talk of an WR if you dont talk the other parts around him. Will this new offense suit his strengths? MAny times Dallas has brought talent to the team, but treat them like they are other players.

I like the trade because really we gave up nothing, some low end picks that we hardly hit on. No loss. But in return, at this moment, all we know is we have a ball catcher. Thats it, those are the only facts that we know. He runs, he catches, him does his job. Will that matter? No clue.

I dont care how expensive your corvetter is, or limited edition, if the engine doesnt work, the rest is just a paper weight of awesome parts. THAT is the only fact the Dallas Cowboys give you at this time. We have had some awesome parts, great tires, a dope windshield, smoking pipes, but the engine, 50 percent and we doing 40 miles an hour on a big highway.
 
I can't be upset about the trade, but I reserve my right to change my opinion. I can't gripe for years that the Cowboys never get agressive and when they do then complain about it.

I see the risks and I know whatever the Jones boys do it won't lead to a super bowl, but I give a thumbs up for now. Building a roster takes risks. This may be a big risk. It is certainly better than last offseason which was doomed from the start.
 
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