George Pickens can be one of two things for the Dallas Cowboys in the years to come — an elite wide receiver alongside CeeDee Lamb or a pathway to improving the 30th-ranked defense in the NFL, but he can’t be both.
Outside of quarterback Dak Prescott, Pickens was probably the most important piece of the league’s No. 2 offense during his first year in Dallas. The wideout hauled in 93 receptions for 1,429 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, all of which were career highs over his four-year professional tenure. Pickens also made the Pro Bowl and earned second-team All-Pro honors, both for the first time in his career.
He outperformed Lamb, who dealt with injury issues that cost him three full games and parts of others, though didn’t keep him from earning his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl appearance. But here’s the rub: Lamb is the third-highest-paid wideout in the league heading into free agency, playing on a four-year contract worth $136 million total.
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There is little chance that Pickens, who is headed for unrestricted free agency on March 11, is going to accept any kind of discount. In fact, he will probably want at least $35 million annually on a four-year contract, which would tie him with Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings as the league’s second-highest paid wideout. Spotrac projects Pickens’ market value at $30.6 million annually, or roughly $122.4 million total.
Even at Spotrac’s projection, Pickens’ contract demands will be problematic for the Cowboys to match given Lamb’s salary and Prescott’s status as the highest-paid player in league history at $60 million annually.
Dallas remains nearly $30.2 million in the red with regards to the 2026 salary cap as of Friday, February 20 and desperately needs cap space to address its struggling defense, particularly the pass rush after trading first-team All-Pro Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers last August.
Dan Graziano of ESPN authored a trade proposal on Friday swapping Pickens and the No. 20 overall pick in this year’s draft to the Las Vegas Raiders for Maxx Crosby and the No. 36 selection in the second round.
“The Cowboys likely aren’t going to fork over a long-term, top-of-market deal for Pickens, and franchise-tagging him could cause more problems than it solves (as it did last year with edge-rusher Micah Parsons),” Graziano wrote. “They get back Crosby, who will make around $30 million per year for the next two years and would replace Parsons. Then, Dallas could look elsewhere for its No. 2 wide receiver.”
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