ClutchPoints
June is halfway over, and the Dallas Cowboys still haven’t handed George Pickens a new contract, making it increasingly likely that the former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver could play on a lame duck deal in 2026.
Now granted, the Cowboys don’t have to sign Pickens to a new contract if they don’t want to. He officially put pen to paper on his non-exclusive franchise tag at the end of April after a few weeks of drama, and if Dallas opted to let him play out the year, they could offer Pickens an extension at season’s end, or even franchise tag him once more, Tee Higgins-style, if both sides can’t reach an agreeable number.
If Pickens suffers a career-ending injury, has a horrible year, or pulls an AJ Brown and forces his way out of town to his childhood favorite team, whichever team that might be, opting against signing the Georgia product might look savvy. But as things presently stand, the market for 1,000-yard wide receivers just keeps going up, with the Atlanta Falcons handing Drake London a four-year, $141 million contract extension with $100 million guaranteed.
With Puka Nacua next up to earn a monster contract extension, and other young stars getting in line, Pickens is only going to become more expensive if he turns in another 1,429-yard season, so if the Cowboys are wise, they should strongly consider locking him up now on a contract north of London’s deal before that becomes low-level WR1 money, not top-5 wide receiver money.
On paper, Pickens and London have had very similar careers. While London has remained on the same team for all four of his professional seasons so far, he’s played in multiple different offenses under multiple different coaches, and has watched his role in the offense expand and contract based on who his quarterback was at the time.
And yet, from a purely numerical standpoint, Pickens has cleared London pretty much across the board.
Appearing in 65 games versus London’s 62, Pickens has recorded 309 more yards on 42 fewer receptions and has just one fewer touchdown despite catching passes from five different Steelers quarterbacks before his breakout season in Dallas. While his 2025 campaign is a bit of an aberration based on his expected future, as CeeDee Lamb missed three games, and he was elevated to a WR1 role as a result, Pickens firmly proved that he can be an effective weapon in Brian Schottenheimer’s offense as his regime enters Year 2.
In the summer of 2024, the Cowboys handed Lamb a four-year, $136 million extension after turning in an incredible 1,749-yard season in 2023. While Pickens first season was a few hundred yards less productive than Lamb’s high-water mark, he did outpace the Oklahoma product on the field last year and deserves to be paid at the current market rate for a WR1-caliber receiver, which is over $140, considering London’s contract.
Would it make sense to sign Pickens...
