It’s not every day you hear a Philadelphia Eagles player openly praise a Dallas Cowboys move. But when A.J. Brown speaks up about the George Pickens trade — it isn’t with hate. It is with respect.
“I like it,” Brown said. "We’re gonna have to worry about them."
He didn’t just stop there.
He acknowledged that CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens — together — raise the bar of competition in the NFC. And that kind of pressure sharpens both sides of the rivalry.
“If they’re gonna bring it, we have to bring it too.”
That’s "game recognize game'' in its purest form. And it comes from someone who’s lived this exact situation before.
Brown was once the new addition himself — traded from Tennessee to Philly, then paired up with a route technician in DeVonta Smith. He knows how a change of scenery can rejuvenate a young wideout. He knows how good chemistry can unlock greatness. And deep down, he probably knows the fit between George Pickens and this Cowboys offense could be dangerous.
We wrote about this in the Perfect Marriage piece on CowboysCountry.com:
• CeeDee Lamb dominates inside — underneath, over the middle, and after the catch.
• George Pickens thrives outside — especially on back-shoulder fades, verticals, and sideline isolation.
• And when you compare their heat maps, they complement each other almost perfectly. Where CeeDee is elite, Pickens doesn’t overlap — and vice versa.
Even more important? Dak Prescott has quietly been the best quarterback in the NFL over the past three seasons on vertical throws of 15+ yards. That just so happens to be the exact area where George Pickens ranks No. 1 among all NFL receivers.
This is football geometry and A.J. Brown doesn’t need the analytics to tell him when a duo just works. ... all adding up to fun "worry'' in Cowboys Nation.