As the 2026 NFL Draft is right around the corner, with Round 1 kicking off from Pittsburgh on Thursday night, there are naturally a lot of articles circulating right now about certain selections from the 2025 edition and how they look a year later.
One such piece making the rounds comes from our pal Matt Verderame at SI.com, who recently compiled a list of the eight biggest NFL draft misses from last year.
Now, we might be stretching things just a touch here, but one of the names on the list was wideout Matthew Golden, who was taken in the opening round by the Green Bay Packers. And while Verderame didn't specifically come out and say this, we're thinking that perhaps the Dallas Cowboys deserve a little roundabout credit for avoiding him when they went on the clock with their first selection.
Allow us to explain.
The Dallas Cowboys opting not to draft Matthew Golden led to the trade for George Pickens
Before we get to anything else, here's what Verderame had to say about Golden:
"For years, the Packers have employed a horde of receivers, but none have been capable of taking over a game, including Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and others. When general manager Brian Gutekunst selected Golden with the No. 23 pick in last year’s draft, Golden was thought to be the missing piece in that room.Â
"However, Golden struggled to establish himself. The rookie caught only 29 passes for 361 yards without a touchdown. Now, with Doubs leaving in free agency for the Patriots, Golden should have ample opportunity to showcase his worth by moving up the depth chart."
To his credit, Golden did finally get that first career touchdown in the Packers' wild-card loss to the Chicago Bears, but Verderame certainly got his point across, as Cheeseheads had to be expecting more from the first wide receiver taken by Green Bay in the first round of the draft since Javon Walker in 2002. As mentioned, though, Golden should get some more looks in 2026 with Doubs out of the picture.
Now, as for how this relates to the Cowboys, it's no secret that one of the big needs for America's Team heading into the 2025 draft was to find a genuine WR2 to pair with CeeDee Lamb.
The top target in that regard seemed to be Tetairoa McMillan, but that was always going to be a tough task for Jerry Jones unless he was willing to trade up, as it was all but guaranteed that the Arizona standout was going to be off the board by the time Dallas went on the clock at No. 12 overall.
And that's exactly what happened, of course, as McMillan was taken eighth by the Carolina Panthers and went on to win Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Now, when the Cowboys went on the clock at No. 12, McMillan was the only wide receiver off the board (not including Travis Hunter), so they could have gotten Golden right there. The former Texas star was a 30-visit with Dallas, and by all accounts, hit it off with jerry Jones during his visit at The Star. He seemed like a real possibility at pick 12.
Or they could have gone in a different direction with Emeka Egbuka, Jayden Higgins, or Luther Burden III. Not every name on that list was worthy of a first-round pick, but you get what we're saying.
Dallas had options at wideout, but instead opted to bolster the offensive line, shockingly selecting guard Tyler Booker. It wasn't the most popular decision, but it looks like it's going to work out well, as Booker had a solid rookie campaign.
And by not taking a wide receiver, of course, not just in the first round but throughout the entire draft, the Cowboys instead went the trade route, striking a deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers to acquire George Pickens, who had a career year with 93 catches for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns, and will be back in 2026 on the franchise tag.
So, again, Dallas deserves a little credit for resisting the urge to take a wideout just to take a wideout. For the record, I do believe Golden can be a good player in this league, but Pickens, while much more costly, is the far better option right now, and the fact that Booker is working out only makes the decision look that much better.
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