FRISCO, Texas 鈥 George Pickens sounds renewed, refreshed and as if he has some added bounce in his gait as he strolls off of the flight from Western Pennsylvania to set foot in North Texas, having become the newest wide receiver for the 草莓视频下载入口 by way of a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday.
"I feel great," said the former second-round pick. "I like the mojo here. I like the swag. There's a lot of new players I've been meeting.
"[We've] got a great thing going, for sure."
It's a rare blockbuster trade for Dallas, a team that often shies away from such things, their last being to acquire Amari Cooper in 2018, but keeping in the vein of hoping to resolve a dire need at wide receiver. This time around, it's All-Pro wideout CeeDee Lamb sitting atop the throne and Pickens, who was a human highlight reel and the No. 1 target for the Steelers (ideally, anyway), understands he's brought in to create a tandem.
Seeing as he and Lamb have a longstanding personal relationship that predates the trade, something Lamb hinted at with a waving gif on social media only hours ahead of the news breaking, the chemistry between the two appears to be prepackaged.
"It excites me a lot," the 24-year-old said. "In the game of football, we can work off of each other, and that's why it comes back to building a winning culture."
Those wondering how he views himself going forward should know he doesn't subscribe to the WR1/WR2 narrative, or even the 1A/1B variant, pointing to how, when he "was growing up watching football", elite teams had two elite receivers, far more often than not.
It's something the Cowboys can attest to, though more historically than recently.
"CeeDee is a super dynamic receiver, super dynamic person, player," said Pickens. "I just feel like, schematically, you won't be able to double everybody, so that'll be a great thing for me and him."
Additionally, in helping to establish an early chemistry, Pickens has not only spoken with Lamb, but also All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott.
"[He's a] very prolific QB, and smart, at that," he said of Prescott. "I'm very glad to work with him."
That statement carries a lot of nuance when considering the carousel of quarterbacks the former Georgia receiver was tasked with building chemistry with in Pittsburgh, producing some of the best numbers in the NFL despite that merry-go-round of a quarterback depth chart.
And as far as a red flag being attached to him, specifically regarding questions about his maturity, Pickens was grounded, humble and keenly self-aware in describing his outlook with the Cowboys going forward 鈥 not once becoming defensive or viewing the question as an attack on his character.
Instead, he basically nodded and stood in front of that proverbial train.
"I'm gonna take it one day at a time," he said. "Everybody in the world is working on growing and bettering themselves. I feel like growth is me moving in a great direction and coming to the Cowboys. 鈥 Working every day. That's how you build a winning culture in any sport.
"I'm gonna be working every day."
That work could lead to one of his best seasons as a pro, given he'll play opposite Lamb and in an offense driven by an All-Pro quarterback who, only one season ago, was runner-up for league MVP honors behind only Lamar Jackson. This can only help Pickens in what will be a contract year, of course, but he's "not thinking about contract talk" 鈥 a point he made sure to toss onto the table in his first interview with the media.
"I'm worried about coming here and trying to help build a winning culture," he said. "... Me winning a championship at Georgia 鈥 I definitely know how to win."Considering he also helped lead the Steelers to the playoffs in each of his two seasons, despite questionable quarterback play, it's impossible to argue against that point.
The Dawg is a dawg and, channeled correctly, it'll be for the better and not the worse in Dallas.
