Wide receiver George Pickens swapped Pittsburgh for Dallas this offseason.
The cost was a third-round draft pick and the move came with much fanfare.
A lot of negativity was sent his way from the Pittsburgh side in what appeared to be PR spin to help justify why the Steelers parted ways with Pickens.
Accusations of immaturity, being a nuisance, having a poor attitude and disrupting the locker room spilled out into the national media.
Proving them wrong
While it is only a month into the season, George Pickens has shoved all of that negativity and all of those slights on his character right back in the face of his critics.
Pickens’ rookie deal is up at the end of the season. While there was an argument to sign him to a new deal before the season started, there is a hell of a lot more urgency to get it done sooner rather than later.
We know that is not the Cowboys’ usual approach to doing business. However, we have seen a slight change of tact since the Micah Parsons trade.
Key players DaRon Bland, Jake Ferguson and Tyler Smith have all been promptly signed to extensions. At least the Cowboys get to keep some of their best guys.
Time is money
As each week passes, the price to re-sign Pickens only goes up. The last four weeks have been particularly impressive.
With number one wide receiver CeeDee Lamb going down injured at the start of the Week 3 game against the Chicago Bears, Pickens has stepped up to be the alpha the Cowboys have needed.
We knew the partnership between Lamb and Pickens could be something special with their complementary skill sets. We did not expect Pickens to have to be ‘the guy’ with Lamb missing time.
With Lamb out, Pickens has 24 catches, 427 yards and five touchdowns across three games. He took over the Sunday Night Football tie with the Green Bay Packers and was the whole Cowboys offense against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
Pickens is thriving with a quarterback in Dak Prescott that gives him opportunities to make big plays down the field.
Nobody in the NFL makes as many passes into tight windows as Prescott and Pickens is living up to his reputation as one of the best contest catchers in the league.
If the Cowboys mess around again with another big contract, then Pickens will walk and make top wide receiver money with a team that has the cap space to do it.
If somehow you are reading this Jerry Jones, get the deal done and get it done now while we still have George in the building.
