Last night, the Dallas Cowboys were officially eliminated from playoff contention after the Philadelphia Eagles’ win over the Washington Commanders. While that was an inevitable end to their chances, this season isn’t over, especially for George Pickens.
The 24-year-old, whose rookie contract ends after Week 18 concludes, exceeded all expectations as a Cowboy for nearly the entirety of the 2025 campaign.
Pickens leads Dallas in targets, receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns, while also appearing in the top-three league-wide in the yardage category. It has been a true breakout season that was going as well as it could, up until a few weeks ago.
Recently, the former Georgia Bulldog has struggled to replicate his production, and we’ve seen some of the more personal concerns that Pittsburgh had during his tenure there.
With the season coming to a close and a major decision pending on Pickens’ Cowboys future, these next few weeks will be critical to see if he can bounce back or if this strange descent keeps up.
The December Decline: What Have You Done For Me Lately?
Week 14 @ Detroit: 5 catches on 9 targets, 37 yards, 0 TDs, 7.4 yards per reception.
Week 15 vs Minnesota: 3 catches on 6 targets, 33 yards, 0 TDs, 11.0 yards per reception.
Those numbers say a lot, but let’s go deeper on just how much of a divergence this is from his early-season success.
In the twelve games he played before those two, Pickens was averaging a staggering 95.2 yards per game. If you combine his total from the Detroit and Minnesota matches, he’s still 25 yards behind that per-game average.
That is a 60.2 yards per game decrease over the last two weeks. His catch rate has seen a similar drop over this time, as it crashed from 64.9% to 53.3%.
It is no coincidence that Dallas has dropped both of these games.
Perhaps even more concerning than the numbers is the vibe shift we’ve seen from Pickens in recent weeks. His attitude, effort, and focus have seemingly declined; this became so prominent in the Detroit week that Brian Schottenheimer addressed the concerns directly with the star wide receiver.
It is hard to completely discount everything we’ve seen from Pickens before this time span, but you have to admit the red flags popping up are as concerning as can be.
This is what the Pittsburgh Steelers grew tired of: great performances and effort, followed by disappearances with attitude issues on and off the field.
The Winter Debate: What Do You Do If He Can’t Get On Track?
Today’s game against the Chargers, and the following two in Washington and New York, give George Pickens a chance to right the ship and get back on track.
Go out there, play well, show you’re locked in, and the organization as a whole likely sees no reason for debate in retaining you this winter. If that doesn’t happen, however, conversations will begin to brew in the front office.
Dallas is already paying a hefty price to have CeeDee Lamb around, and a franchise tag or extension to Pickens will put the team in Cincinnati Bengals territory with their huge contracts for Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
With no issues or concerns, just dominant play, you can reason with the monetary hit of paying two top wide receivers at once.
If there are these worries about his long-term stability in-house, that financial commitment becomes a legitimate problem that the Cowboys may not be willing to reckon with, as the defense still reels talent-wise.
Today, and over these next few weeks, Pickens may be playing for his place in Dallas’s future plans.
If these lapses continue, I believe a tag-and-trade plan to recoup draft picks becomes very possible.
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