The reason Dak Prescott will advocate for George Pickens to stay with the Cowboys

Dak Prescott at the helm of the Dallas Cowboys has produced some of the most explosive offensive fireworks in franchise history. Not even kidding. Records have fallen.

During the 2023 season, Prescott led the league in touchdown passes and threw for 4,516 yards, a season so impressive that he forced his way into MVP conversations.

More recently, in 2025, he was a yardage king once again, racking up 4,552 passing yards and 30 touchdowns. It turns out that when you give Dak a legitimate cast of talented receivers, he can be quite the conductor and orchestrate some of the best offensive performances in the league.

But he needs help.

The importance of having good receivers became painfully clear back during the 2018 season. Before the infamous Amari Cooper trade, the Cowboys operated with a receiver-by-committee approach. Prescott averaged a meager 202 yards per game with a 62% completion rate and an 88.6 passer rating as the team limped into their bye week with a 3–4 start. Once Cooper arrived, Dak dazzled, jumping up to 274 yards per game, a 70% completion rate, and a 96.2 rating. It’s amazing how much better a quarterback looks when his receivers can actually create separation and catch the football.

Fast forward to 2022, and the Cowboys’ front office decided to test Dak’s sanity by letting Noah Brown serve as the WR2. It wasn’t by design, but that’s how it played out. Michael Gallup, bless his heart, was clearly struggling to find his old self after a devastating knee injury, finishing with just 424 yards. Meanwhile, promising rookie Jalen Tolbert was so underwhelming that he recorded only two catches for 12 yards all season. The Cowboys’ passing attack was not for the faint of heart. Prescott threw a league-high 15 interceptions, mostly because he was forcing balls to players who weren’t actually open.

Even the 2024 season (or the half that Dak played) highlighted the ugliness of not having an adequate receiving group. With Brandin Cooks missing time, the offense waited for the “Two Jalens” (Tolbert and Brooks) to pick up the slack. Spoiler alert: they didn’t. In the eight games Prescott played, he managed only 1,978 yards and 11 touchdowns against eight interceptions. His 86.0 passer rating during that stretch felt more like a cry for help than a stat line. It’s hard to take any defensive attention away from CeeDee Lamb when your next top receiving threats are an ailing veteran and two lost youngsters.

The contrast is about as glaring as the sun creeping into AT&T on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. When Dak has weapons, he’s an MVP finalist. When he doesn’t, he’s a very expensive scapegoat. In healthy seasons with strong support, like 2021 and 2023, he averaged over 35 touchdowns and stayed north of a 104 passer rating. Take away the stars, and his production nosedives. It may not be a reality many are willing admit, but Dak’s Elite QB subscription requires a Premium Receiver add-on to function properly.

The arrival of George Pickens put an immediate halt to the Cowboys’ offensive struggles. He was a revelation last season, hauling in 93 receptions for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns, all career-highs for him, and all super exciting for us. He finished third in the league in receiving yards and earned a second-team All-Pro nod while making one phenomenal catch after another. Having Pickens around meant Dak didn’t just have to stare at CeeDee Lamb for four quarters, or at least until Lamb became frustrated on the sidelines. With Pickens, Prescott had a legit vertical threat who could flip the field at any moment.

Keeping Pickens on the roster isn’t just a smart idea. It’s a requirement for Dak’s continued success. If Jerry Jones lets a talent like this walk away after such a breakout season, it would be one of the most egregious front office mishandlings we’ve witnessed in quite some time. And that says a lot. Between franchise tagging and back-and-forth negotiating theatrics, the drama is only beginning. But we’ve already done the math, and it’s quite simple. Dak + Pickens = Touchdowns. Hopefully, Jerry has his calculator out and recognizes that this is one check he absolutely cannot afford to not write.