George Pickens did not have a great game during the Dallas Cowboys’ 44-30 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thursday. This loss brought an end to the team’s three-game winning streak while putting up a 6-6-1 record.

After the Cowboys vs Lions game, NFL analyst Trey Wingo did not mince his words while criticizing Pickens’ performance. He said that the lack of productivity was the reason why the Pittsburgh Steelers traded the wide receiver.

“The Pickens we saw tonight…. was exactly why Pittsburgh decided to move on,” Wingo tweeted.

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Against Dan Campbell’s team, George Pickens tallied just 37 receiving yards with five catches to his name. It was also the first game of the 2025 season where he did not have a 10-yard-plus catch.

The Cowboys acquired the wide receiver via a trade with the Steelers back in May. He quickly established himself as a key contributor on the offense alongside CeeDee Lamb and QB Dak Prescott. So far in 13 games, Pickens has recorded 1,179 yards and eight touchdowns receiving.

After the underwhelming performance, retired Super Bowl champion Richard Sherman criticized Pickens’ performance, highlighting his struggles while questioning his chances of receiving a contract extension from the Cowboys.

“George Pickens, thoughout the game, especially in the late game, just looked uninterested playing football,” Sherman said on the Amazon Prime Video’s broadcast. “And that’s what you can’t have if you’re going to be a superstar, if you want to be the best receiver in the National Football League, you can never be disengaged.

“And if you’re the Dallas Cowboys, you’re looking at him and you’re looking to pay him big time receiver money, $40 million you got to look at this tape and say, ‘Hey, is this the guy we can trust paying $40 million to show up, regardless of circumstance?’ I don’t know.”

George Pickens responds to Richard Sherman’s criticism

After receiving backlash from Richard Sherman, George Pickens responded to the criticism with a story on Instagram, which he later deleted.

In his story, the WR sounded off on Sherman and said that the ex-Super Bowl champion was nobody without the “Legion of Boom,” the nickname given to the dominant Seahawks defensive backfield during his playing days.

“This is a team game lmao I’m not the only one on the team,” Pickens said. “Stop becoming a analyst and talking about one player when he playin a teams game. Lots of shh has to go right for explosive plays. And it’s funny cause I thought former players would know that such as.

“RICHARD P***Y A** SHERMAN WHO BTW AINT SHH WITHOUT THE LEGION OF BOOM WE ALL REMEMBER SAN FRANCISCO BROTHER. Much love- don’t speak on me unless you know the game of football as a former player and not a d***riding fan/analyst that act like double team is not a thing or a certain bracket coverages doesn’t exist.”

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said that he would have a chat with George Pickens about his deleted post. He also defended the wide receiver’s performance against the Lions, claiming that he did not see any sign of half-hearted plays on film.

The Cowboys are next scheduled to face the Vikings on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 8:20 p.m. ET.