It’s these type of games that get remembered by front offices come negotiation time.
Polarizing Cowboys star receiver and pending free agent George Pickens received widespread backlash for his underwhelming performance in the Cowboys’ potentially season-defining loss to the Lions on Thursday, with ex-star cornerback Richard Sherman claiming he looked “uninterested.”
Pickens had just five catches for 37 yards despite fellow Dallas stud wideout CeeDee Lamb exiting with a concussion.
“The big story here is George Pickens,” Sherman said on Amazon Prime’s postgame show after Detroit’s 44-30 home triumph.
“George Pickens, throughout the game, especially late in the game, looked uninterested. Uninterested in playing football. And that’s what you can’t have. If you’re going to be a superstar, if you want to be the best receiver in the National Football League, you can’t ever be disengaged. It doesn’t matter if the game is going your way or not going your way, you can’t just disappear in these games or else you’re not going to have impact.”
Pickens is enjoying a career-best season in his first year in Dallas after three years in Pittsburgh, already tallying career-highs in receptions (78), targets (114), receiving yards (1,179) and touchdowns (eight).
The 24-year-old has played so well that a source recently told ESPN that the Cowboys will retain Pickens. That’s even with the team already committing $34 million per season to Lamb and Pickens being able to market himself as a No. 1 receiver who could be worth potentially $30 million-plus per season.
Teams are always looking, though, for reasons to pay players less than what they want and Pickens already has his Pittsburgh years working against him when coach Mike Tomlin called out his immaturity.
While it’s fair to chalk Thursday up as a bad game, Pickens’ film from what was essentially a must-win for the Cowboys (6-6-1) stands out for all the wrong reasons.
Tasked with carrying the load after Lamb exited early in the third quarter, Pickens instead had little to no effect on the game.
Sherman’s postgame comments aired while Amazon showed clips of Pickens failing to make plays, including one route Sherman described as “cruising” that resulted in an incompletion.
The compilation showed other plays where Pickens didn’t appear to be be going all out, including on one pass when the ball deflected off his hands for an interception with Dallas trailing, 20-9, in the third quarter.
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“You’re the guy, CeeDee Lamb is not in this game, he’s out,” Sherman said, “and you get intercepted on your slant routes, and you can’t be the guy and you half-ass it. I’m sorry, it’s unacceptable and if you’re looking at him and you’re looking to pay him big-time receiver money, $40 million, you got to look at this tape and say, ‘Hey, this is a guy we can trust to pay $40 million regardless of circumstance?’ I don’t know.”
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer did not agree with a question surmising that Pickens did not display the same energy as usual.
Pickens finished fourth in receiving yards among Dallas skill players Thursday, trailing Lamb (121), 2024 sixth-round pick Ryan Flournoy (115) and tight end Jake Ferguson (58).
“No, I don’t think so, I’m going to look at it,” Schottenheimer said of Pickens’ energy.
“He was being doubled, the minute CeeDee went out they just decided to play everything two-man over there and try to double him and take him away.”
Pickens will potentially have a chance to rebound in Week 15 against the Vikings, especially if Lamb is unable to clear the concussion protocol.
Every game is critical for a receiver trying to earn his payday, especially when there are some red flags that teams may have from prior years.
Tweeted ex-ESPNer Trey Wingo: “The Pickens we saw tonight….was exactly why Pittsburgh decided to move on.”
