Recently, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott both publicly campaigned for Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones to “please figure out a way” to pay wide receiver George Pickens “every dollar that he deserves.”
Pickens will spend the upcoming season playing for the Cowboys on the franchise tag worth roughly $27.3M. During an appearance on the FanDuel TV “Up & Adams” program, Jones sent a strong message to Pickens regarding the 25-year-old’s future.
Jerry Jones: George Pickens can earn an even bigger contract from Cowboys
“He can come out here and have the year that he’s talented enough and mentally prepared to have, and that contract [could] be a lot bigger than it would have been,” Jones said about Pickens.
The Cowboys acquired Pickens from the Pittsburgh Steelers in the spring of 2025, and he recorded 93 receptions for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns during his first season with Dallas. However, some of the red flags regarding Pickens’ character that hovered over him during his Pittsburgh tenure seemed to follow him to Dallas.
The perception exists that the Cowboys couldn’t trust Pickens to remain on his best behavior and stay fully dedicated to the cause enough to guarantee him a boatload of money beyond the 2026 season. While Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones insisted earlier this week that the team’s “ultimate goal” is to lock Pickens down with a multiyear deal, some think Dallas is already prepared to retain Pickens’ rights for 2027 via the franchise tag.
Jerry Jones wanted to have a motivated George Pickens as part of the 2026 Cowboys
During the show segment, Jerry Jones hinted that he hasn’t yet decided whether to keep the 2027 tag unattached for Pickens.
“On a personal basis,” Jerry Jones added, “contract, no contract, I’ve been as motivated in the pursuit of a contract as I have been when I got the contract. And so there is a whole lot of human makeup that that pursuit of doing better so that it will be better is a better motivator.”
In short, Jerry Jones clearly wants Pickens to “answer all those questions” before the Cowboys make a multiyear financial commitment to the wideout.