{"id":853925,"date":"2026-04-04T21:06:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T21:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/853925\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T21:06:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T21:06:21","slug":"former-nfl-mvp-names-ulterior-motives-in-george-pickens-contract-struggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/853925\/","title":{"rendered":"Former NFL MVP Names Ulterior Motives in George Pickens Contract Struggle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steelers Opponents<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens at practice on Dec. 18, 2024. — Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

After the Pittsburgh Steelers traded him to the Dallas Cowboys last offseason, George Pickens did exactly what Jerry Jones hoped.<\/p>\n

The mercurial receiver posted career-highs in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown grabs, and hoped to cash in on the impressive effort this offseason. Instead, Pickens<\/a> was franchise-tagged and will be paid roughly $27 million next season. He\u2019d prefer to have some long-term financial security, but Jones is making things tough in contract talks.<\/p>\n

Cam Newton, the 2015 Associated Press NFL MVP, has his thoughts on what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople forget that the storyline may change, the strategy will not,\u201d Newton said<\/a> on his \u201c4th&1\u201d podcast. \u201cWhy do we consider Dallas America\u2019s Team? Because they\u2019re always in the headlines. This is a strategy, ladies and gentlemen. \u2026 He understands how to stay on the tip of people\u2019s tongues, and keep talking about the Dallas Cowboys.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about marketing. And he understands, Jerry Jones can be the bad guy. Jerry Jones understands that he can be the bad guy. But a player can\u2019t. Why? Because, first off, I pay you. Second off, I got you. Third off, I traded for you in the event we did get you. The man with $2 don\u2019t get told what to do (by) the man who makes 50\u00a2.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens after a game against the Washington Commanders on Nov. 11, 2024. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

Newton doesn\u2019t think Pickens has much leverage in the situation, especially considering the high-profile players who have been at Jones\u2019 mercy.<\/p>\n

\u201cBro, you have nowhere to go,\u201d Newton said. \u201cJerry Jones has been using this strategy. And, isn\u2019t this mighty funny? He uses the same strategy during the offseason, to get people worked up. It\u2019s just unfortunate that Dave Mulugheta and George Pickens are the subject of this particular conversation now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newton listed CeeDee Lamb, Zack Martin, Ezekiel Elliott, Dez Bryant, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin as having the same exact issue with Jones.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are just small examples,\u201d Newton said. \u201cCannot forget Micah Parsons. But, understand, these are star players. And if we will do this with star players, hey, buddy. \u2026 You ain\u2019t even gonna make the team newsletter. Don\u2019t nobody care nothing about you. This is about me. There\u2019s not ever gonna be a bigger star than Jerry Jacoby Jones. Let that be known. Not in Dallas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: Dallas Cowboys<\/a> George Pickens<\/a> Jerry Jones<\/a> Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Steelers<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steelers Opponents Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens at practice on Dec. 18, 2024. — Ed Thompson \/…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":853926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2055],"tags":[257,7,467,2883,6,520,57,2360,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-853925","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-dallas-cowboys","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-george-pickens","11":"tag-jerry-jones","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-pittsburgh","14":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","15":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","16":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116348480255433338","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=853925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/853926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}