The Dallas Cowboys are currently participating in training camp in preparation for the upcoming 2025 NFL season. Dallas made a  few splashy moves this offseason, including trading for wide receiver George Pickens, previously of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Recently, Pickens spoke after Cowboys practice and threw a bit of shade at his former team in the process.

“I’m definitely excited to run better plays,” Pickens said, per Josh Alper of NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk.

He also called his first practice with the Cowboys a “breath of fresh air” and said the combination of him and fellow Dallas wide receiver CeeDee Lamb will be “something special.”

The man throwing passes to Pickens and Lamb will be Dak Prescott, who is coming off of a 2024-25 Cowboys season that was cut short due to a hamstring injury he sustained in an early November game against the Atlanta Falcons.

However, when healthy, Prescott remains one of the better quarterbacks in the league and is certainly an upgrade over anyone Pickens caught passes from during his time with the Steelers.

Can the Cowboys compete?

Sep 15, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) throws against the New Orleans Saints in the first quarter at AT&T Stadium.
Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

One of the biggest unresolved issues for the Cowboys this offseason is the contract situation of Micah Parsons, which has become a theme for Jerry Jones in the front office over the last couple of offseasons, with Prescott and Lamb both also being involved in drawn-out sagas regarding potential extensions.

While there's little doubt that Parsons and the Cowboys will eventually come to terms on a contract extension, the situation is adding a bit more angst than is probably necessary to the Dallas locker room as they prepare for the upcoming season.

On paper, Dallas has a roster that is similar to the ones that made the playoffs for the first few years of the 2020s, but it remains to be seen whether they will be able to stay healthy, and how much the improvement of other teams around them in the NFC East will factor into the equation.

The Cowboys will take the field to open up the NFL season on September 4 on the road against the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

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