{"id":313650,"date":"2026-05-29T07:58:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T07:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/313650\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T07:58:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T07:58:23","slug":"george-pickens-could-soon-shock-the-dallas-cowboys-and-nfl-world-with-one-simple-decision-in-pursuit-of-a-record-payday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/313650\/","title":{"rendered":"George Pickens could soon shock the Dallas Cowboys and NFL world with one simple decision in pursuit of a record payday"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Cowboys wide receiver isn\u2019t getting a long-term deal this year. At least not from his current team. But he could raise his asking price for next year with a simple decision next week. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Nov
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNov 23, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens (3) smiles after the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKevin Jairaj-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

I sure am glad I don\u2019t represent Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens because frankly, I\u2019m not sure what his next move should be. Let us recap where things stand as he heads into the 2026 regular season. <\/p>\n

The Cowboys publicly announced they wouldn\u2019t negotiate a long-term deal<\/a> with him in 2026, prompting him to sign the franchise tag earlier in the month. That was a surprise. Now officially under contract, Pickens will be subject to fines should he miss mandatory minicamp and\/or training camp. <\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing: Maybe the right move is to show up even before practices become mandatory. That\u2019s right, I\u2019m talking about showing up for (voluntary) OTAs beginning next Monday<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The case for George Pickens to show up to OTAs<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s apply some game theory here and ask ourselves what does Pickens want for himself in the future? Sure, he may want to win football games, etc. But I believe the right answer is a long-term deal that makes him the highest-paid receiver in football. <\/p>\n

Well, if that\u2019s the case, Pickens and his path must look at the best path forward. There are two key realizations to have here. <\/p>\n

They must come to terms with the fact that the Cowboys won\u2019t budge to a long-term deal unless they significantly drop their asking price. It\u2019s only fair to assume both sides were far apart on initial numbers that Dallas shut down negotiations months before the July 15 deadline to strike a multi-year deal. <\/p>\n

A trade is starting to look highly unlikely, especially with Pickens signing the tag. This one deserves an expanded explanation. <\/p>\n

George Pickens is untradeable <\/p>\n

I believe Pickens is \u201cuntradeable.\u201d <\/p>\n

Not because the Cowboys would never consider it nor because of a lack of teams willing to target one of the best receivers in football. But I do think circumstances make it so where the Cowboys want way more than \u201cfair value\u201d for him. And teams don\u2019t want to overpay out of lingering concerns from his Pittsburgh Steelers days. <\/p>\n

Think about it: If the Cowboys are to be successful in 2026, they will need their high-powered offense to answer the bell once again. Sure, defensive improvements took place over the offseason. But even owner Jerry Jones has admitted continuity has been an issue on defense. It\u2019s difficult, if not unfair, to ask a first-year defensive coordinator to deliver immediate results after inheriting a historically bad defense. <\/p>\n

So the Cowboys know they need their offense to make up for a far-from-perfect defense if they\u2019re going to aspire to be a playoff team, which should be the goal after missing the cut back-to-back years considering the star power on the roster. <\/p>\n

That should mean moving on from Pickens is a no-no. No Pickens, no elite offense. No elite offense, no playoffs. Even with an improved defense. <\/p>\n

On the other side of the coin, teams are unlikely to overpay for Pickens. This remains the same league that didn\u2019t match the Cowboys\u2019 third-round pick offer for him last year out of behavioral concerns. Trading for GP3 only makes sense if you have a contract extension waiting for him. <\/p>\n

So while Dallas may be willing to move on from Pickens for a first-round pick, it\u2019s almost a guarantee no NFL team will give that up for him. Cowboys co-owner Stephen Jones said before the draft that they hadn\u2019t received any offers for the receiver. <\/p>\n

Pickens\u2019 best bet to a record-setting deal? <\/p>\n

Other than stacking another All-Pro season, Pickens\u2019 best shot at resetting the market has to be him answering all questions about his behavior. He sure did a good job alleviating such concerns with a drama-lacking season in Dallas but it wasn\u2019t perfect. <\/p>\n

Pickens was benched during the opening drive of a Monday Night Football Game for missing curfew with CeeDee Lamb. He was fined at least once by the Cowboys. <\/p>\n

So if teams still have concerns about his approach and behavior, what would showing up for voluntary workouts mean? In my opinion, it should be a very positive showing to teams around the league. <\/p>\n

Again, Pickens is unlikely to get a long-term deal in 2026. All he can focus on, unless the Cowboys are bluffing about ending negotiations, is raising the price next year. The easiest way to achieve that is with another strong season this year. Practicing as much as possible with Dak Prescott should make that way easier. <\/p>\n

Now granted, Pickens holding out for as long as he can is also a viable negotiation strategy. It may even be the right move to \u201cpunish\u201d the Cowboys for not rewarding him after such a strong year. <\/p>\n

But with the cards he\u2019s been dealt, the right move might be to shock the NFL world and go all-in on 2026. That implies showing up to practice next Monday. We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Dec\t\t<\/p>\n

Dallas Cowboys News<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDo the Dallas Cowboys have enough? NFL insider reveals the 12-player blueprint to build a championship team\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

NFL Network insider Daniel Jeremiah revealed a 12-player blueprint for a championship foundation. Here\u2019s an in-depth look at whether or not the Dallas Cowboys meet the criteria. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Cowboys wide receiver isn\u2019t getting a long-term deal this year. At least not from his current…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[110201,102,113,104,103,5962],"class_list":["post-313650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-cowboys-otas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-george-pickens"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}