{"id":52905,"date":"2025-06-02T08:23:25","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T08:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905"},"modified":"2025-06-02T08:23:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T08:23:25","slug":"breaking-george-pickens-makes-surprising-claim-about-his-trade-to-cowboys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING : George Pickens Makes Surprising Claim About His Trade To Cowboys"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"featured-image-wrapper\">\n<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thecoldwire.com\/wp-content\/cache\/webp-cache\/851de0d84e190207c979e70fe2ec5924.webp\" alt=\"George Pickens Makes Surprising Claim About His Trade To Cowboys\" width=\"750\" height=\"467\" data-image-id=\"454215\" \/><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Photo by Chris Unger\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Dallas Cowboys made waves this offseason by acquiring George Pickens from the Pittsburgh Steelers in a notable trade.<\/p>\n<p>Dallas sent a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick to Pittsburgh while receiving Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round pick in return.<\/p>\n<p>The acquisition brought talent but also controversy as Pickens continues generating headlines away from the field.<\/p>\n<div id=\"AdThrive_Content_1_desktop\" class=\"adthrive-ad adthrive-content adthrive-content-1 adthrive-ad-cls\" data-google-query-id=\"\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/18190176,21876345927\/AdThrive_Content_1\/60241fb76f0af53ee0150fba_0__container__\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"google-ad-manager-fallback-container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In a social media exchange that was later deleted, the wide receiver responded to a fan by openly criticizing his former team and claiming he orchestrated his own departure from Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cNew Cowboys WR George Pickens claims he FORCED the Steelers to trade him this offseason: \u2018I forced buddy. They were gladly keeping me \u2026 have a nice day and a blessed one my guy.\u2019 Pickens has since deleted his comment,\u201d Dov Kleiman shared.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=The_YB_Vibe&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1929247323714154580&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecoldwire.com%2Fgeorge-pickens-makes-surprising-claim-about-his-trade-to-cowboys%2F&amp;sessionId=6bb712ba73aba948672349f054e45e7d1238eba8&amp;siteScreenName=thecoldwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=500px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1929247323714154580\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>The statement contradicted what Pickens said during his first press conference with Dallas. At that event, he presented a different narrative about the trade circumstances.<\/p>\n<div id=\"AdThrive_Content_2_desktop\" class=\"adthrive-ad adthrive-content adthrive-content-2 adthrive-ad-cls\" data-google-query-id=\"\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/18190176,21876345927\/AdThrive_Content_2\/60241fb76f0af53ee0150fba_0__container__\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"google-ad-manager-fallback-container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>He acknowledged that football operates as both a sport and a business while expressing enthusiasm about joining the Cowboys and contributing to their winning culture.<\/p>\n<p>The reality of who initiated the trade matters less than what both teams accomplish moving forward.<\/p>\n<p>Pickens brings solid production after recording 59 catches for 900 yards and three touchdowns across 14 games in his third NFL season with Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n<p>His transition to Dallas represents more than a simple roster move.<\/p>\n<p>The change provides Pickens an opportunity to redefine his career trajectory in a new environment. Success with the Cowboys could elevate his status significantly within the league.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Photo by Chris Unger\/Getty Images) &nbsp; The Dallas Cowboys made waves this offseason by acquiring George Pickens from the Pittsburgh Steelers in a notable trade. Dallas sent&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING : George Pickens Makes Surprising Claim About His Trade To Cowboys - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING : George Pickens Makes Surprising Claim About His Trade To Cowboys - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Photo by Chris Unger\/Getty Images) &nbsp; The Dallas Cowboys made waves this offseason by acquiring George Pickens from the Pittsburgh Steelers in a notable trade. Dallas sent...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-02T08:23:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/851de0d84e190207c979e70fe2ec5924.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"478\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905\",\"name\":\"BREAKING : George Pickens Makes Surprising Claim About His Trade To Cowboys - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/851de0d84e190207c979e70fe2ec5924.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-02T08:23:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-02T08:23:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/851de0d84e190207c979e70fe2ec5924.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/851de0d84e190207c979e70fe2ec5924.webp\",\"width\":768,\"height\":478},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING : George Pickens Makes Surprising Claim About His Trade To Cowboys\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING : George Pickens Makes Surprising Claim About His Trade To Cowboys - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING : George Pickens Makes Surprising Claim About His Trade To Cowboys - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"(Photo by Chris Unger\/Getty Images) &nbsp; The Dallas Cowboys made waves this offseason by acquiring George Pickens from the Pittsburgh Steelers in a notable trade. Dallas sent...","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2025-06-02T08:23:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":478,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/851de0d84e190207c979e70fe2ec5924.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905","name":"BREAKING : George Pickens Makes Surprising Claim About His Trade To Cowboys - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/851de0d84e190207c979e70fe2ec5924.webp","datePublished":"2025-06-02T08:23:25+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-02T08:23:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/851de0d84e190207c979e70fe2ec5924.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/851de0d84e190207c979e70fe2ec5924.webp","width":768,"height":478},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52905#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING : George Pickens Makes Surprising Claim About His Trade To Cowboys"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52905"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52909,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52905\/revisions\/52909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/52908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}