CeeDee Lamb #88 and George Pickens #3 of the Dallas Cowboys
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CeeDee Lamb #88 and George Pickens #3 of the Dallas Cowboys
For the Dallas Cowboys, the 2025 season was marked by notable ups and downs, which netted featured multiple blockbuster trades, some critical injuries, a remarkable offensive explosion and, ultimately, a disappointing 7-9-1 record. It was an entertaining season, no doubt, and that is largely owed to the addition of star receiver George Pickens who, along with CeeDee Lamb, formed the best wide receiver duo in the NFL.
We know the numbers posted by Pickens: 1,429 yards and 93 catches, with nine touchdowns, all career highs. Pickens’ success–along with an early-season hamstring injury–ate into Lamb’s production, as his catch total dropped from 101 to 75, though he still wound up with 1,077 yards, his fifth straight 1,000-yard season.
Casting aside the notion of the diva receiver, Lamb has been welcoming for Pickens, describing him as his “brother” and eagerly stumping for the Cowboys to give Pickens a high-value long-term contract. (He’s currently on a franchise tag, worth $27 million over one year, but eligible for a long-term deal.) Wide-receiver rooms are usually most successful when there is a clear hierarchy, but Pickens and Lamb bucked that stereotype in 2025.
CeeDee Lamb Told George Pickens ‘Go for 250 Today’
In fact, Lamb explained in an episode of the “Ross Tucker Podcast” that came out this week, he would frequently tell Pickens during the Cowboys’ season to go out and rack up even more yards. Pickens had five games of 130 yards or more.
Lamb said he was loving it–it meant defenses were paying a price for sending too much help to Lamb.
Said Lamb: “Having GP, oh my God, bro. Y’all come and roll this way. I pray he goes for 300 (yards). I literally tell him, I say, ‘Bro, go for 250 today. Do it.’ Because the day they get off me, I am going to help you.”
Cowboys Keeping the Band Together?
Lamb said he had not experienced the changes in coverage he saw in 2025 since his first two NFL seasons with the Cowboys. He does not want to lose that in 2026, so he is certainly not on board with the idea of tagging and trading Pickens, and he has said, “I don’t care,” if the Cowboys wind up paying Pickens more than him.
The two have formed a close bond, and Lamb wants to keep it going, long-term.
“That was amazing,” Lamb said of Pickens drawing coverage. “Oh, it was amazing. My first two years I had Coop (Amari Cooper). I was a bit spoiled. I was a bit spoiled. I had Coop, I had MG (Michael Gallup). … I was surrounded by a great group of guys where I was able to get 1-on-1s on guys’ third DB. And I was a young’un. So being able to develop into who I am and being able to take those charges and take those challenges, and being able to exceed, essentially, it was definitely a mind-blowing thing.
“I realize I am not going against 11 of these guys, I am going against 12 because they’ve got the defensive coordinator looking at me from the sky. So wherever that’s coming from, I’ve got to look to expose it an exploit it.”