Pickens joins Lamb in giving Cowboys Prescott a new receiving duo

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — By the time Dak Prescott got to his phone after the Dallas Cowboys agreed to a trade for receiver George Pickens, the star quarterback said he had about six missed calls from owner Jerry Jones' assistant. "Literally no idea what it could've been about and actually had a voicemail from Jerry, 'Hey, I've got some good news I want to share with you,'" Prescott said Tuesday. "So I called him back and he was excited. Just a lot of excitement from the both of us." The Cowboys entered the offseason after the end of a three-year playoff run knowing they lacked a proven No. 2 receiver behind CeeDee Lamb. Then they skipped the position altogether in the draft. In their mind, they still don't have a No. 2 receiver. Dallas thinks it has two No. 1s after giving the Pittsburgh Steelers a third-round pick in next year's draft while the teams swapped late-round 2027 choices in the deal announced May 7. "I think CeeDee said it best," first-year coach Brian Schottenheimer said. "I saw his comments where we don't have a one, we don't do A's and B's, we think that there's a one over there. If you look over there, there's a one there. So I think that's the way that we view (Pickens)." Prescott, Lamb and Pickens are on the field together for the first time this week in organized team activities. "We can complement each other," Lamb said of Pickens. "Just being his backbone and being here for him and letting him know that he has some help on the other side that's a dog and that's willing to win. I'm going to do everything in my power to do that." Going into his 10th season, Prescott potentially has the most dangerous second option at receiver since Amari Cooper was traded three years ago, back when Lamb was considered the No. 2 guy. After finishing second in MVP voting in 2023, Prescott missed the final nine games last season with a torn hamstring. Now he has plenty of reasons to feel confident about a reset coming off just the second losing season for Dallas since he became the starter. "Looking at the guy's tape, you see what he does, the kind of receiver he is, he's going to win on one on ones," Prescott said of Pickens. "He can win two vs. one if he has to. Very, very talented guy. When you can add him alongside a CeeDee and the rest of the weapons we have, I'm super excited." Pickens left behind questions in Pittsburgh, where the 2022 second-round pick showed he could be a dynamic playmaker but struggled to keep his emotions in check. Lamb has had a few sideline moments himself, usually when frustrated that he wasn't getting the ball enough. "Obviously just watching him with the Steelers and how passionate he is about the game, I think they kind of get it confused when you're so passionate about something, you're willing to do anything for it," Lamb said. "As far as winning goes, just being happy in an organization. Not saying that he wasn't, not saying that he was, you never know. He hasn't stopped smiling since he got here, so I'll start with that." Pickens now has had a chance to show people from the outside that smile after dealing with most of the questions about his three-year Pittsburgh tenure by phone. "I'd probably say staying humble," Pickens said when asked about a chance for a fresh start. "That's kinda what I always did even when the story was what the story was. I always kept working and staying humble." Lamb will go through a full offseason and training camp with Pickens after missing everything in a contract holdout last year. He played through a painful shoulder injury most of last season and experienced for the first time a season in which his catches, yards and touchdowns weren't higher than the previous year. Of course, it would have been difficult to match his first All-Pro season in 2023, when Lamb led the NFL with 135 catches and had 1,749 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns. While heaping praise on Pickens, Lamb offered a subtle reminder of his own credentials. "The last time I had OTAs and training camp," Lamb said, "was 2023." ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL