> About the comparison of Pickens potentially playing under the tag with Micah Parsons refusing to play for the fifth-year option, the Cowboys picked up for $24 million in 2025.
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> Along with Jerry repeatedly speaking of how much GP means to the Cowboys, along with how much the team mean to Pickens, knowing the likelihood of the Pro Bowl receiver returning for the 2026 season.
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> And right at the 13-minute mark, Jerry threw his gaggle of reporters peppering him with questions for a loop when he said, “I want our George Pickens relationship to be all honey.”
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> “Honey,” meaning sweet.
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> “I can’t tell you how positive I feel about him, and I want our fans to look at it and say, ‘That’s a lot of money they’re putting out there,’” Jerry emphasized.
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> Yep, that’s ol’ Jer, staying three steps ahead of the posse.
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> Here are the financials kicking in on March 11 when the 2026 NFL league year, the salary cap and free agency begin. Pickens, producing a 2025 career year with 93 catches for 1,429 yards and nine receiving touchdowns for the Cowboys, will be in the final year of his initial four-year contract signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a 2022 second-round draft choice:
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> That franchise tag is a one-year, guaranteed $27.3 million contract, if choosing to bet on himself while likely trying to negotiate a long-term deal by the July 15 deadline. That’s $27 million now.
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> Do you realize over these past four seasons playing on his rookie deal, the first three spent with the Steelers who gave up on the mercurial receiver and a 2025 fifth-round draft choice to boot for a mere draft choice package consisting of a 2026 third-round selection and a 2027 fifth-rounder, Pickens made a grand total of $6.7 million.
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> If my math is right, that’s like a 300 percent raise for basically one year of production for the Cowboys. Not a bad bag of dough.