The Pittsburgh Steelers have officially made the biggest move of the post-NFL Draft stage of the offseason, trading away polarizing wide receiver George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys. After acquiring DK Metcalf in the offseason, this move made sense for both the team and the player alike.
Dallas needed a No. 2 wide receiver after choosing not to spend any of their picks on one in the 2025 NFL Draft, and Pickens should be a good stylistic complement to CeeDee Lamb. However, the fact that he is a free agent after this season makes the price Dallas paid a bit rich for many.
Per Josina Anderson, Dallas will send a third-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and a fifth-rounder in 2027 in exchange for Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round choice. Jerry Jones was so desperate to acquire Pickens that he was willing to pay an extra premium price to do so.
According to Dianna Russini, the Steelers originally were offered a fourth-round pick for Pickens, but were able to negotiate a third-rounder and some more goodies out of Jones. Unless Pickens turns into Michael Irving, Pittsburgh could be the early winner of this trade.
George Pickens trade details show that Steelers fleeced Cowboys
A fourth-rounder is the same price Jones paid to acquire disappointing former Panthers wideout Jonathan Mingo, who is nowhere close to the caliber of receiver Pickens is. Naturally, Pittsburgh realized this and squeezed some extra capital out of Dallas in this trade.
While this trade makes football sense for Dallas, there is a good chance that the big contracts this team has already given out on offense paired with the fact that Micah Parsons also needs a new deal could make Pickens' presence a very temporary arrangement. If that's the case, this deal is a heist for Pittsburgh.
The Steelers are seemingly taking a huge bet on Metcalf's ability to be a No. 1 wide receiver with this trade, as the next receivers in line for targets are the extremely limited Calvin Austin III, the ancient Robert Woods, and a youngster who missed most of his rookie season in Roman Wilson.
Pittsburgh has had plenty of star wide receivers in the Mike Tomlin era, and they have a very good track record when it comes to figuring out when is the best time to get off the ride. There's a chance the Pickens trade is yet another victory for Tomlin in that regard.