When the Dallas Cowboys traded for George Pickens in May, they weren’t just acquiring one of the league’s most gifted young receivers; they were inheriting everything that made the Steelers finally give up on him.
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Pickens had a history of volatility: multiple fights with opposing players, repeated late arrivals to practice “on multiple occasions,” per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and even showing up late to the team’s Christmas Day game in 2024, walking in just 1 hour and 25 minutes before kickoff, after inactive players had already been announced. Add in what was described as a generally poor attitude, and the Steelers decided they couldn’t justify extending him.
All of that baggage resurfaced Thursday night after the Cowboys’ 44–30 loss to the Detroit Lions, the first time Dallas got a true look at the version of Pickens Pittsburgh warned everyone about.
Richard Sherman, on the Prime Video broadcast, said Pickens looked “uninterested” and “disengaged.” Instead of brushing it aside, Pickens fired back with a now-deleted social media post aimed directly at Sherman, writing, “it’s funny cause I thought former players would know that,” before escalating to, “WHO BTW AIN’T SHH WITHOUT THE LEGION OF BOOM.”
Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer immediately had to address it.
“I’m aware of what was supposedly put out there,” he said Friday. “I understand it’s been taken down, but I will be talking to him… this is unfortunately things that we deal with in this profession.” It was the exact type of headache Pittsburgh moved off of.
While Sherman questioned Pickens’ engagement, Ryan Clark questioned something deeper: his awareness and effort.
“I’m going to question his awareness,” Clark said, explaining how he responded when a coach once doubted him: “I’m going to try to kill everybody I hit from now on… And if I’m going to be out the league… it won’t be because of that.”
Then Clark turned that standard directly on Pickens.
“If I’m George Pickens and I know I am ultimately talented, top five talented, and all they ask for me is effort, you’re going to have to stop me from running,” Clark said. “George Pickens let himself down more than anything last night.”
Pickens had his worst showing since Week 1 against the Lions with five catches on nine targets for just 37 yards. For the first time all season, he didn’t record a single catch over 10 yards. Amik Robertson smothered him, and a crucial slant route turned into a turnover when Robertson broke it up, and the ball fell into Derrick Barnes’ hands. With CeeDee Lamb concussed in the third quarter, the Cowboys needed Pickens to elevate. Instead, he drew penalties and couldn’t separate against Detroit’s layered coverage.
Pickens admitted afterward, “Things just didn’t go our way… I just feel like some plays didn’t go our way.”
Dak Prescott acknowledged it too: “To George’s standard? That’s tough.”
But the broader season paints a completely different picture. Pickens has been one of the most productive receivers in football this season with 78 catches, 1,179 yards, and 8 touchdowns, and is top-10 in the NFL. He has also been the league’s most dangerous slant receiver, with 292 yards on slants, nearly double the next closest wideout. His 73 slant yards against Kansas City were the most by any player in a game this season.
The Cowboys traded for elite talent, and the talent is real. But Thursday night showed the risk they knew they were taking. And as Ryan Clark framed it, the person with the most to answer for isn’t Richard Sherman or Brian Schottenheimer. It’s George Pickens himself.
