By SCHUYLER DIXONAP Pro Football Writer

George Pickens says he joins the Dallas Cowboys focused more on a future with quarterback Dak Prescott and fellow receiver CeeDee Lamb than a past of why the Pittsburgh Steelers would trade one of their top playmakers in his prime.

Dallas gave up a third-round draft pick next year, and the teams swapped late-round choices in 2027 to end Pickens' three-year stint with the Steelers.

There were enough questionable antics for coach Mike Tomlin to declare bluntly last year that the former Georgia star and 2022 second-round pick needed to grow up. He isn't worried about that perception following him to Dallas.

“I can’t really change anyone’s opinion of me personally,” Pickens said in a conference call with reporters Thursday, a day after the trade was announced. “I feel like everybody in the world has to grow. You get older and older as you grow. We’re trying to build a winning culture, which they already have at the Cowboys. I’m just glad to be joining it.”

The Cowboys weren't winners last season, finishing 7-10 to end a three-year stretch of 12-5 playoff seasons. All three of those ended without a trip beyond the divisional round of the playoffs. Dallas is the only NFC team that hasn't played in a conference championship game since the 1995 season, when the Cowboys won their fifth Super Bowl title.

Looking to rebound under first-year coach Brian Schottenheimer, Dallas didn't address the need for a No. 2 receiver behind Lamb during the draft. The trade for Pickens might have been why. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones said before the draft the Cowboys were working on a couple of “substantive” trades.

Pickens has the skills to match Lamb, who was an All-Pro in 2023 when he set career highs in catches (an NFL-best 135), yards (1,749) and touchdowns (12). The 24-year-old Pickens — two years younger than Lamb — led the Steelers in receiving yards each of the past two seasons and is among the NFL's best in yards per catch.

“You guys making a 1A, 1B, and all this, honestly, that’s the first time I’ve heard any of that stuff,” Pickens said. “I feel like two receivers are kind of normal. When I used to watch football, there was always a good receiver, and then there was also another good receiver on the side of him.”

Pickens has consistently struggled to keep his emotions in check. Last season alone he twice ended games by getting into dust-ups with opposing defensive backs, first when he grabbed Dallas’ Jourdan Lewis by the facemask and then when he tussled with Cleveland’s Greg Newsome II rather than try to get in position for a last-second desperation pass.

That doesn’t include a fine for using an expletive on his eye black against the Cowboys, a rule he said he was unaware of at the time. Pickens also drew criticism in 2023 for what could generously be described as inattentive downfield blocking for his teammates.

Pickens won't have to worry about making nice with Lewis, who signed with Jacksonville as a free agent in March. Prescott was among the first to reach out to Pickens, who will need time to get settled in his new home and meet most of his new teammates.

“I like the mojo here,” Pickens said. “I like the swag.”

Considering Pickens' volatility, the Steelers didn’t seem interested in a contract extension, and he became expendable when they traded for two-time Pro Bowler DK Metcalf in March. Metcalf promptly signed a five-year contract.

Pickens brushed off the question of signing an extension before the end of his four-year rookie deal this season.

“I’m kind of where my feet are right now, to be honest,” Pickens said. “I’m not really thinking about contract talks.”

Pickens led the league by averaging 18.1 yards per catch in 2023 and has 174 receptions for 2,841 yards and 12 scores in 48 games. Lamb was a model of consistency and improvement his first four years, and now Pickens is trying to prove he can be reliable in his fourth year.

“It excites me a lot because ... we can work off each other,” Pickens said. “There’s no, ‘He gets the ball, I get the ball.’ We’re working off each other. That’s why I always come back to building a winning culture. And that’s kind of what we’ve been talking about in Dallas.”

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AP National Writer Will Graves in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.

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