Despite an All-Pro season last year, former Steelers WR George Pickens still can’t seem to find a long-term deal. Another former Steeler, Joe Haden, anticipates trouble ahead for the Cowboys as they negotiate—or don’t negotiate—these waters ahead. Having placed the franchise tag on him, he has already signed it, but Haden doesn’t think that’s the end of the story. Perhaps not by a long shot.
“I think that George Pickens definitely wants a long-term deal, and it may get messy”, he told Kay Adams on the Up and Adams program recently. Asked to clarify what he means by messy, he didn’t miss a beat in indicating he thinks Pickens could stage a holdout.
A team can place the franchise tag on a player, but it doesn’t mean anything until the player signs it. Because Pickens has already signed, that means he is under contract. Therefore, he is subject to fines if he doesn’t show up, and his potential no-showing would indeed be a holdout. Publicly, he has been quiet all offseason, but there’s a reason they’re not even talking contracts at this point. And that, Haden believes, is where this can grow into a problem.
“I don’t want him to hold out. I would hope that he goes and plays for the tender, just because the NFL is set up that way”, he said of George Pickens. “Like, I wish he would have gotten the long-term deal, but I don’t want him to miss out on his $27.5 [million], to not be able to go out and get his bag after this season”.
A 2022 second-round pick, George Pickens wasted little time proving his talent. It wasn’t until Pittsburgh traded him to the Cowboys last year, however, that his talent fully translated into production. In one season in Dallas, he put up career numbers and saw those elusive accolades he felt entitled to.
When the Cowboys traded for Pickens, they made it clear they viewed this as a one-year arrangement. To start with, anyway, revisiting the situation in the offseason. That largely depended, of course, on how he performed. Not just on the field, but off the field. While he clearly passed the on-field test, perhaps he didn’t off the field. He went through last season, Haden says, anticipating this was a prove-it year. Now, he is heading for yet another.
“I was hoping that worked out for the Cowboys, but they’re looking at, they’re already paying CeeDee Lamb $35 [million] a year,” he pointed out, referring to Dallas’ other starter next to Pickens. “I don’t think they want to pay George a guarantee of what would be at least $60-70 million”.
As talk of Pickens signing his franchise tag heated up around the draft, many speculated it could preclude a trade. The Cowboys deny any intention of trading him, but teams always deny that. And in this era, players have more power. If he wants the Cowboys to trade him to a team willing to sign him to a long-term extension, his best course of action would be to hold out.
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