by: Alex Byington 10 hours ago _AlexByington
The Dallas Cowboys , fresh off a second-consecutive playoff absence, enter a pivotal offseason following Sunday night’s Super Bowl LX. And it’s one that could determine whether “America’s Team” snaps its three-decade Super Bowl drought in its 83-year-old owner’s remaining years.
One of the Cowboys’ biggest offseason questions revolves around the future of pending free agent receiver George Pickens , who shone in his first-ever Pro Bowl earlier this week following his lone season in Dallas. And while there’s been some debate about the Cowboys’ No. 1 offseason priority, one of the team’s all-time legends makes no bones about where he thinks re-signing Pickens stands on his personal priority list.
“Hell yeah. Oh yeah, that would be one of the first things I do,” NFL Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith said Friday morning on ESPN ‘s First Take . “Because that’s one way to keep it silent (this offseason), instead of having this fanfare and this dude ( First Take co-host Stephen A. Smith ) over here talking.”
As far as Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher with 18,355 rushing yards, is concerned, retaining Pickens could be the beginning of a new run of Super Bowl success, as ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky predicted earlier this week, as long as the Cowboys take care of business in other areas. That includes making wise selections with Dallas’ two first-round picks in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft.
“Now that we have all these picks, now that we’ve made these trades, now that we have (head coach Brian) Schottenheimer in here stabilizing the offense after Dak Prescott had one of his best years,” Smith added, “… We’ve got some options, and I want to see how we manage the next six months.”