All season long, Dallas Cowboys fans were probably trying to figure out why the Pittsburgh Steelers were willing to trade George Pickens.
After all, Pickens has been phenomenal. He has made a ton of clutch catches and is among the league leaders in receiving yards after Week 14.
Pickens is having such a good season that fans and analysts alike have even given the Steelers some flack for their decision to trade away the talented wideout, especially given Pittsburgh's issues at the position.
However, the Week 14 game against the Detroit Lions was another stark reminder of why the Steelers made the decision they did.
Pickens just looked disinterested, plain and simple. He wasn't putting full effort into his routes and committed a bad facemask penalty that wiped out a catch and turned a first-and-10 at the Lions' 34-yard line into a second-and-25 at Dallas' 42-yard line.
The lack of urgency from Pickens was even more glaring when you consider that the Cowboys needed him to step up after fellow wideout CeeDee Lamb was removed from the game early because of the concussion he sustained.
A lack of interest was just one of a few issues Pickens had with the Steelers. He would often crash out and make bad decisions on the football field that led to penalties, and he had lateness issues, something we've seen in Dallas already following his benching for missing the team bus recently.
As more time passes, the Cowboys are finding out exactly what the Steelers already knew about Pickens and why they decided to trade him in the first place.
There is just no telling what Pickens is going to do on a weekly basis, and that may get worse once he gets the lucrative long-term deal he will be seeking in the offseason.
The Cowboys have to seriously consider not extending Pickens on a deal that could pay him over $30 million annually.
Even if you take out all the concerns about Pickens, extending him to a big-money deal is a bad idea in and of itself because the Cowboys will be committing a large chunk of their salary cap to two wide receivers when you include Lamb.
That would just be a bad use of resources when the Cowboys have so many other needs to address in the offseason.
At this point, the Cowboys should franchise tag Pickens and look to trade him in the offseason. Afterwards, take that draft capital and the money saved and use it elsewhere while finding a cheaper alternative for the No. 2 receiver spot.
More NFL News
- Cowboys' Dak Prescott gives Lions bulletin board material
- Player Bills cut to make room for Darius Slay claimed off waivers
- Tee Higgins injury update is great news for Bengals WR's Week 14 status
- Marvin Harrison Jr., Trey Benson injury updates are more bad news
- Micah Parsons makes strong statement on Penn State's next head coach