The Cowboys landed a playmaker they've sorely needed in their receiving corps with last week's trade for George Pickens.
It didn't take the club's chief operating officer Stephen Jones long to make a comparison to a Cowboys legend when explaining why they traded for Pickens.
"Well first of all we look at him, it’s just two starting receivers out there, we don’t necessarily even think -- we think of him as more than a two, when we were looking at the deal," Jones said during an appearance on SiriusXM's Mad Dog Sports Radio. "Certainly we looked at the draft in terms of scratching an itch, seeing what might be available there in the draft, but here you get a guy who’s got experience, who’s had great success in the NFL, obviously a tremendous competitor. He reminds a lot in our building of Dez Bryant, in terms of his competitiveness and what he brings to the field, his edge.
"And as I said we were looking at the draft as a way to look at filling that need. When it didn’t happen, you know we had some opportunities around the league that we were looking at, and this one at the end of the day made the most sense. Whether it was coach (Brian) Schottenheimer and his offensive staff looking at him, whether (vice president of player personnel) Will McClay and the personnel group, obviously Jerry (Jones) and myself, felt like this was the best action for us, and certainly one that made a lot of sense to us."
Dallas struck at an opportune time to add a receiver, waiting out a relatively weak draft class at the position and then dialing the Steelers to acquire a player with whom Pittsburgh seemed interested in parting ways from since they made their own trade for former Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf earlier this offseason. Instead of hoping for the best with a rookie receiver, the Cowboys added Pickens, a highlight reel stuffer of a pass-catcher who is incredibly gifted, but has also gained a reputation for being mercurial.
The Cowboys are willing to take on any risk with Pickens because of the upside. If it ends up leading Pickens to producing a Bryant-like season -- 75-90 catches, 1,200-plus receiving yards, double-digit touchdowns -- it will be a boon for Dallas and possibly convince them to work on a long-term deal with Pickens as one half of a dynamic receiving duo with CeeDee Lamb.
Those are lofty numbers Pickens has only flirted with once back in 2023. But the Cowboys are chasing the possibilities within Pickens with the belief he's only needed a top-tier passer (Dak Prescott) and an excellent running mate (Lamb) to realize his potential. They'll put that to the test in 2025.