Sunday night’s game between the Giants and the Cowboys will provide a chance for Greg Newsome and George Pickens to renew their relationship. The two men last faced off when Newsome was a Browns cornerback and Pickens was a Steelers wide receiver during the 2024 season. On a Hail Mary attempt at the end of a 24-19 Browns win in Week 12, Newsome and Pickens wrestled with each other and then continued their scuffle after the ball fell incomplete. The physical interaction morphed into a battle of words , but Pickens missed the second game between the AFC North teams with a hamstring injury and the two players never met last season. They’ll be back on the same field this week and Newsome downplayed the idea of having unfinished business while acknowledging the history between the players adds to the matchup. “I wouldn’t say that ,” Newsome said, via Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News . “I would just say every receiver I go against there’s technically unfinished business. My job is to shut them out no matter what. Obviously I’ve had a lot of battles with him, so it’s gonna be a little more special. But my job is to shut them out.” Newsome praised Pickens as being “great at the catch point” and also noted how good CeeDee Lamb is before adding that “I like our chances” of winning the game. That would be just the start to the John Harbaugh era that the Giants are looking for in Week 1
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ryan Flournoy established a role in his team's passing game in 2025, recording 40 catches for 475 yards and four touchdowns on 56 targets across 16 games (four starts). Flournoy has a pair of high-volume target earners ahead of him on the Cowboys wide receiver depth chart in CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, which may make it difficult for him to provide consistently fantasy-relevant production. However, Flournoy routinely garnered praise from both Cowboys coaches and reporters for his work throughout training camp and the preseason. If either Lamb or Pickens goes down with an injury for any stretch of time in 2026, Flournoy could immediately step into a high-value role in Dallas. As a late-round draft target, Flournoy should be on the radar of fantasy managers
Not even a month ago, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones called it “ realistic ” for the team to think it can keep CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens long term. This week, Jones admitted keeping both wide receivers beyond 2026 will be challenging. “I don’t know of any teams that really can pay two top receivers top of the market, so that’s gonna be a real difficult situation as we move forward,” Jones told the DLLS Cowboys podcast. “We’ve managed to figure out how we can do it for this year. If everything works out the way we think it is, [in] which CeeDee and George both have huge years again, then it’ll be a bigger challenge next year.” Before the 2024 season, Lamb signed a four-year, $136 million extension. His $34 million annual average ranks sixth at the position. Pickens will play this season under the one-year, $27.3 million franchise tag. He is coming off a career year when he made 93 catches for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns. “George is really wanting to put back-to-back years on top of one another, so it’ll help his market,” Jones said. “And certainly, I know at some point -- as does every player in this league -- will want to be rewarded with a long-term contract. So that certainly puts pressure on us to have a unique situation there at wide receiver.” The Bengals managed to pay Ja’Marr Chase (four-year, $161 million extension signed in 2025) and Tee Higgins (four-year, $115 million extension signed in 2025), and the Eagles paid A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith before trading Brown this offseason. But Pickens will want — and will deserve — more than Higgins or Smith if he has another year like last year. The Cowboys hope they face that problem in the offseason, because that will mean Lamb and Pickens both had solid seasons again. “[Cowboys defensive coordinator] Christian Parker will tell you, who went against us twice a year, what a challenge that it was for the Eagles when they played us, and he was on the defensive side of the ball trying to defend Dak [Prescott] and those two receivers,” Jones said
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ryan Flournoy has turned a strong summer into a much firmer spot on the redraft radar. Flournoy entered camp as Dallas' third receiver behind CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, and he has only strengthened his hold on that role. The Cowboys' latest unofficial depth chart lists him as a starter, while the team's own end-of-camp review said the 26-year-old had taken firm control of the No. 3 spot. Brian Schottenheimer also included Flournoy among the players who exceeded expectations this summer. He earned the opportunity after taking a big step in 2025, catching 40 of 56 targets for 475 yards and four touchdowns in 16 games after managing just 102 receiving yards as a rookie. Offensive coordinator Klayton Adams has also praised Flournoy's deeper understanding of the offense as he enters Year 3. Lamb and Pickens will make consistent target volume difficult to find, with Jake Ferguson also heavily involved in the passing game. Flournoy isn't suddenly a weekly fantasy starter, but his role is considerably safer than it was a year ago. RotoBaller currently ranks him WR63, giving him legitimate late-round appeal in deeper redraft leagues
Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb stated that he and teammate George Pickens can be "the best ever" in 2026. This is a lofty goal, aiming to surpass legendary duos like Moss and Carter, and Fitzgerald and Boldin. While Lamb and Pickens could form a formidable one-two punch, they face competition from other current NFL receiver tandems such as Chase/Higgins and Jefferson/Addison
Undrafted rookie wide receiver Camden Brown is making a strong case for a roster spot with the Dallas Cowboys, following a standout training camp with two touchdown receptions in his preseason debut. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer praised his performance, noting his consistent play in practice and contributions on special teams. Brown previously played at Georgia Southern after transferring from Auburn, where he had a highly productive senior season
Count Dak Prescott among the many people in Dallas who think the Cowboys should back up the Brinks truck and pay George Pickens his money. CeeDee Lamb already spoke earlier this week about his desire to see the Cowboys keep his running mate around over the long term, and on Thursday, it was Prescott's turn to advocate for the team to spend up and keep one of the league's best receiver duos intact. "George, you know he loves football. And at the end of the day, it's not for the money," Prescott said during an appearance on Up & Adams . "However, he should get every dollar that he deserves because he's a hell of a player. And we should probably give it to him sooner than later because [the price] is only gonna go up." Alas, the Cowboys actually cannot pay Pickens anytime soon. The deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign a long-term deal with their team passed back in July, and Pickens signed his franchise tag. He will play this season on a fully guaranteed, one-year, $27.3 million contract, and the Cowboys won't be able to give him a long-term deal until after the Super Bowl . Prescott is correct, though, about the price only going up. The wide receiver market has exploded over the last few years, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba set a new high-water mark at the position with the four-year, $168.6 million contract extension he signed this offseason. If Pickens comes anywhere close to replicating what he did in Dallas last year, when he caught 93 passes for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns and was named both a Pro-Bowler and Second Team All-Pro, he is going to get paid at or near the top of the market by somebody, whether it's the Cowboys or another team. That is going to happen. (Unless the Cowboys use the franchise tag on Pickens for a second time.) As we wrote earlier this week, investing in both Lamb and Pickens on long-term deals wouldn't exactly be unheard of. The Bengals paid both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins , the Lions paid both Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams , the Dolphins paid both Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle before later moving on from both of them and the Eagles paid both A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith before trading Brown this offseason. The difference, of course, is that the secondary receivers among those duos got paid quite a bit less than the No. 1s, whereas if Pickens has a season that's even close to representative of his talent, he might earn a contract that pays him even more than Lamb. Paying two wideouts at that level would be somewhat unprecedented -- and somewhat complicated for a team that is also paying Prescott, Tyler Smith and the recently-extended Quinnen Williams near the top of the market at their respective positions. Still, the Cowboys can absolutely afford to do it if they want to. We've seen plenty of teams pay numerous players at or near the top of the market for their positions by massaging cap hits with bonuses and void years, kicking the can down the road on the cap.(The Eagles are experts at this, and the Lions will soon have to be as well, given how many players they have paid in recent years.) The salary cap can be manipulated in pretty much any way you want to do it in the short term, as long as you're willing to eat dead cap hits somewhere down the line. Jerry Jones himself admitted that it's realistic for the Cowboys to pay Pickens. The only open questions here are whether Pickens will keep his head on straight and perform like he did last year, and whether the Cowboys will be willing to open the checkbook if and when he does
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ryan Flournoy has moved a long way from the practice-squad spot he held at the start of last season. He finished 2025 with 40 catches for 475 yards and four touchdowns on 56 targets, and Dallas now lists him as a starting receiver alongside CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. That matters, even if the target ceiling is still pretty obvious. Flournoy's two 100-yard games last year both came when the Cowboys needed more from him, including a 9-115-1 line against Detroit after Lamb left with a concussion. He has kept building on that this summer. Dallas has talked openly about his improved route running and consistency, and Brian Schottenheimer has praised the work he put in during the offseason. KaVontae Turpin is still getting first-team reps, while Jake Ferguson gives Dak Prescott another established option in the middle of the field. Flournoy is RotoBaller's WR63, so nobody is asking him to become a weekly starter right away. For deeper leagues, though, the WR3 role and the flashes he showed last season make him a reasonable late-round swing
