As they say, the longer an NFL team waits to pay its stars, the more expensive it gets. Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys since 1989, should know that by now.
He’s had a hand in negotiating several multi-million dollar contracts, and now it’s George Pickens’s turn to get paid. Last year he earned Second-Team All-Pro honors. Now he’s playing under a $27.3 million franchise tag.
But that only sets him up for an even bigger payday next offseason when he’s set to hit the open market again.
Dallas Cowboys Warned of George Pickens’ Rising Cost
Pickens is coming off a career year, one in which he led the Cowboys with 1,429 receiving yards and nine touchdown catches. Still just 25 years old, there’s no reason he’ll be slowing down anytime soon.
Pickens was set to hit free agency this offseason before the Cowboys bit the bullet and placed the franchise tag on him instead. Now they’re essentially asking him to enter another prove-it year, but that may only set the Pro Bowl receiver up for an even bigger payday next offseason, when the receiver market gets reset again.
Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe made the argument on his “Nightcap” podcast that the Cowboys will only end up having to pay Pickens an even larger salary if he balls out again.
“He knows this thing’s going north of $45 million,” Sharpe argued. “Jerry, you let this thing play out, you might be looking at $50 million.”
Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba just reset the market by inking a contract with an annual average value of $42.15 million per season. Naturally, the next superstar receiver who signs a new contract will be looking to top JSN.
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Sharpe sees where the receiver market is headed too, and as he said, pretty soon $50 million will be the new target.
“When they did this franchise tag, now you already got another guy that’s over $40 million. You got JSN over $40 million. Chase over $40 million. So now that franchise tag that was $28 million, plus, you gotta give him 120% of what the franchise tag was last year. Now you’re at $34-35 million.”
Pickens already had the NFL’s third-best PFN Impact Score among wide receivers last season at 90.6. Imagine another elite performance? Surely, he’ll be in line to demand far more than $35 million per season.
Sharpe agrees, and he says Pickens’s agent, David Mulugheta, wouldn’t allow his client to play at a rate drastically lower than he deserves.
“CeeDee is driving the Titanic,” Sharpe said. “He sees that big iceberg that happens to be George Pickens having a phenomenal year, and it’s gonna cost Jerry somewhere between $45M and $50 million. The last thing you want this man to do is to have a comparable season to last year, become another All-Pro.
“I promise you, he is not taking no franchise, he is not coming in. David Mulugheta will not allow him to play on another franchise (tag).”
CeeDee Lamb tells Jerry Jones to pay George Pickens:
“The last thing you want is for him is to become another all-pro…cause he will NOT take a pay cut.” – Unc 👀@ShannonSharpe | @ochocinco | @TheJoeJohnson7 | #Nightcap pic.twitter.com/QjTjMnNpHd
— Nightcap (@NightcapShow_) August 11, 2026
The Cowboys seem set on seeing what Pickens is capable of heading into his second season in Brian Schottenheimer’s offense. Yet, barring injury, it’s hard to imagine how his price would go down at this point.
