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George Pickens\u00a0arrived in\u00a0Dallas\u00a0with loads of potential and a lot of questions surrounding his game. For the most part, he has silenced all doubters with a season that will be the best of his four-year career if he continues on the same trajectory.<\/p>\n
On the field, Pickens has been everything the Cowboys hoped for. Through Week 10, he has 49 catches for 764 yards and six touchdowns,\u00a0ranking fourth in the league\u00a0in receiving yards while averaging 15.6 yards per catch.<\/p>\n
The club sent a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth to the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0for Pickens and a 2027 sixth, and it\u2019s fair to say he has repaid them. This is the final year of his rookie deal, though, and he\u2019s set to hit free agency in March of 2026.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s little doubt the Cowboys want him back \u2014\u00a0ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler reported\u00a0on November 12 that Dallas could use the franchise tag on Pickens if a long term extension isn\u2019t reached, so it looks like he\u2019s probably sticking around. If something happens and the Cowboys decide to move on, though, they could have a very attractive option in free agency.<\/p>\n
GettyThe Dallas Cowboys could potentially target WR Alec Pierce of the\u00a0Indianapolis Colts\u00a0in 2026 free agency if they don\u2019t re-sign George Pickens.<\/p>\n
K.D. Drummond of Cowboys Wire listed\u00a0several pending free agents who \u201ccould be targets\u201d for the Cowboys next offseason, and Indianapolis Colts receiver Alec Pierce was among the most intriguing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the Cowboys don\u2019t bring back Pickens, Pierce is looking like a beautiful consolation prize,\u201d Drummond wrote. \u201cHe\u2019s excelling now that he has a competent QB throwing him the ball (can anyone believe that\u2019s being said about Daniel Jones?) and his deep-threat ability mirrors Pickens\u2019 impact on the Dallas offense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like Pickens, Pierce was a 2022 second-rounder, taken 53rd overall by the Colts out of Cincinnati. At 6-foot-3 and 211 pounds, he offers similar size but a subtly different game. Pierce is more of a deep-ball threat, and he\u2019s an asset more for his explosiveness than he is for his production and volume.<\/p>\n
With the likelihood the team will re-sign\u00a0quarterback\u00a0Daniel Jones\u00a0to a hefty deal, the chances of the Colts also being able to keep Pierce around may not be good.<\/p>\n
Pierce\u2019s career stats haven\u2019t been as impressive as Pickens\u2019 have. Through Week 10 of the 2025 season, he has 138 catches for 2,516 yards and 12 touchdowns, a robust 18.5 yards per reception over four years in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n
He led the\u00a0NFL\u00a0with 22.3 yards per catch in 2024, turning 37 receptions into 824 yards and seven scores. This year has been more of the same. He\u2019s hauled in 28 passes for 585 yards and one touchdown, again leading the league in yards per grab (20.9 ypc).<\/p>\n
Based on Pickens\u2019 elite production thus far in Dallas coupled with his tangible on-field chemistry with QB\u00a0Dak Prescott, it\u2019s difficult to picture Cowboys owner Jerry Jones letting the talented young receiver get away. But as we\u2019ve learned over the past year, anything is possible where Jones is concerned. If things with Pickens don\u2019t work out, Pierce would be a solid big-play option for Prescott, no doubt.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll see how the rest of the season plays out first.<\/p>\n
Despite playing most of the season without several star players including quarterback Brock Purdy, tight end George Kittle, receiver Ricky Pearsall, and defensive end Nick Bosa, the\u00a0San Francisco 49ers\u00a0have a respectable 6-4 record and are just one game behind the\u00a0Los Angeles Rams\u00a0and Seattle Seahawks for the NFC West division lead.<\/p>\n
The injury-ravaged 49ers have been hit particularly hard on offense with injuries to two QBs, a running back, five different WRs, a tight end, and two offensive linemen.<\/p>\n
Aside from losing Bosa and All-Pro linebacker\u00a0Fred Warner to season-ending injuries, the roughest part of the 49ers\u2019 season just may be the fact that WR Brandon Aiyuk still hasn\u2019t played a snap.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old is still recovering from torn ACL and MCL injuries suffered in Week 7 of last season against the\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs.<\/p>\n
49ers general manager John Lynch initially told reporters during the preseason that he expected Aiyuk to be back by Week 7 of the regular season. But days before the team\u2019s Week 11 matchup against the\u00a0Arizona Cardinals, Lynch dropped a not-so-promising update on the All-Pro wideout.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not the intention, the intention is to get Brandon back,\u201d Lynch told KNBR when asked if this season would be a redshirt year for Aiyuk. \u201cWe\u2019re not there yet, we just got to get him to a place where we\u2019re comfortable opening that window, and see if he can make it back on the field. That is the intention. But we\u2019ll see, no absolutes there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aiyuk has been practicing with the team for weeks, but he reportedly needed more time than the team initially believed for his ACL to fully heal.<\/p>\n
When healthy, Aiyuk is arguably one of the NFL\u2019s 10 best wide receivers. He posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2022 and 2023, totaling 75 or more catches and seven or more touchdowns both years.<\/p>\n
But without the dynamic receiver, the 49ers\u2019 WR corps leaves much to be desired.<\/p>\n
Pearsall, the team\u2019s first-round pick last season, has missed six games due to injuries and logged just 20 catches for 327 yards.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though the 49ers lead the\u00a0NFL in receptions (249) and receiving yards (2,737), the bulk of that production has come from running backs and tight ends.<\/p>\n
In fact, 60% of San Francisco\u2019s receptions and 49% of its receiving yards have come from Christian McCaffrey, Kittle,\u00a0Jake Tonges, Kyle Juszczyk, Luke Farrell, and Brian Robinson Jr. \u2014 further emphasizing Aiyuk\u2019s importance to the passing game.<\/p>\n
McCaffrey, a running back, leads the team in every receiving category including receptions (69), targets (90), receiving yards (692), and touchdowns (4). The 49ers\u2019 leading WR is\u00a0Kendrick Bourne (31 catches, 482 yards), and he didn\u2019t join the team until Week 2.<\/p>\n
Aside from McCaffrey, the 49ers don\u2019t have a receiver who ranks in the top 35 in the NFL in receiving yards or the top 60 in receptions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
George Pickens\u00a0arrived in\u00a0Dallas\u00a0with loads of potential and a lot of questions surrounding his game. For the most part, he has silenced all doubters with a season that will be the best of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t