Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb Announces ‘Caged Animals’ Prediction with George Pickens originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
OXNARD – When the Dallas Cowboys traded for George Pickens, who is in the final year of his contract, many were unsure of the wisdom in parting with a 2026 third-round pick to get a “rental” of a controversial player for potentially only one year.
But now that he’s here alongside CeeDee Lamb? Pickens’ “Goodfellas”/”Mario Bros.” (George has offered up both as duo nicknames) status is in ascension with all involved …
Especially with new bestie Lamb.
With Pickens now in an offense with Lamb and Dak Prescott, it can be argued that he is in the best position to succeed he’s ever been in during his career.
A top quarterback and another No. 1 receiver to shift coverage, George could feast unlike he ever has before. The chemistry between him and Lamb has been noticeable since that first OTA practice, and that has only been reinforced as training camp got underway.
Brian Schottenheimer highlighted the narrative around George and stated that if you get to know the receiver, the perception of him will change.
Lamb echoed that thought when asked what people would learn about Pickens if they got to know him.
“That he’s not as crazy as he seems to be,” Lamb said. Literally, I seen what y’all seen on film, trust me, I know what it looks like, but if you talk to this man and have a decent conversation, I guarantee you’ll understand that this man is kind-hearted. When we get on the field, it’s a different beast. I expect him to be an animal. But we have an on and off button.
“At the end of the day, GP, I’m glad he’s here. He knows I love him the most. I tell him every day I’m happy for him. Hope we go together for x amount of years. I don’t care. I just know that we not going to do this for one [year].”
Right. Stop the presses.
“I just know that we not going to do this for one” is quite the sentence there, CeeDee.
Does Lamb know something we don’t? Probably not. But with Pickens expected to want a big new contract next offseason, and with Dallas already working on Micah Parsons, Tyler Smith, DaRon Bland, Jake Ferguson, and Brandon Aubrey, we get why Lamb wants to throw George into the mix, too.
Of course, first, this has to work on the field. And Lamb has a promise there.
“He’s an incredible athlete, an incredible football player,” Lamb said of Pickens. “His ability to go up and get the ball, you guys haven’t seen it yet. But those days are literally coming.
“He’s like a caged animal. And so am I.”
Lamb doesn’t have any real pull when it comes to contracts of other players, but he just made his feelings known in the best way possible and might have just applied a little pressure to the front office in the process.
He wants Pickens for more than one year.
The key to it all? Lamb and Pickens putting pressure on defenses over the course of the 2025 NFL season.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 24, 2025, where it first appeared.