Certainly, when the Dallas Cowboys made a trade for star receiver George Pickens of the Steelers a bit more than a year ago, the hope was that Pickens would slot in as a good No. 2 option behind CeeDee Lamb, and the Cowboys could move forward with a solid wide receiver hierarchy from there. But the problem, of course, is that Pickens came out and had an all-time great season for Dallas, his 1,426 yards ranking fourth in the franchise’s single-season record book.
It’s a good problem to have. But Pickens playing like a WR1 is how the Cowboys wound up in a position in which they had to either pay Pickens like a WR1 or franchise tag him at one year and $27 million, which is near WR1 money. With Lamb on the books for $34 million per year, that’s an expensive receiver duo.
The Cowboys will have that in place this year. But Zach Wolchuk of 105.3 The Fan in Dallas and “The Love of the Star” podcast says Cowboys fans should appreciate it while it’s here–because it won’t be for long.
‘Enjoy George Pickens in 2026’
Speaking on “The Love of the Star,” Wolchuk said that the Cowboys will eventually need to pick a receiver. In 10 months, the Cowboys will either need to tag Pickens again or give him a long-term deal, with the tag price going up to around $33 million. With Lamb on board, again, that’s $67 million for two receivers.
Wolchuk even floated the notion of trading Lamb and keeping Pickens. But not both.
Said Wolchuk: “Pickens, I really don’t think, is going to be here past this season. I think we need to enjoy George Pickens as a Dallas Cowboys in 2026. Now, maybe they get into a situation where George Pickens is so good and he is such a great fit that, call me crazy here, they look to sign Pickens and trade CeeDee Lamb, which I hate the idea of, but I think that’s what you’re going to look at here.
“I don’t think they want to pay—Stephen Jones told us, they don’t want to pay two wide receivers at the top of the market.”
Cowboys Could Stretch on Wide Receiver Payouts in 2027
But, if this season proves successful and the Cowboys win, say, 11 games and advance to the NFC Championship game, with the offense continuing to hum, the Cowboys could at least bring back Pickens for one more run in an expensive combo with Lamb. The tag would be expensive, but short-term.
That was the retort from RJ Ochoa of Blogging the Boys, the guest on the podcast. It won’t be an easy fit, but the Cowboys could make it work for one more year. Pickens would still be a relative bargain.
Said Ochoa: “I think he is here in 27, and I think that’s because they tag him again. There’s no reason not to, especially if he performs like that, why wouldn’t they? Maybe it gets sticky, maybe there’s drama, maybe whatever. They have all of the, I hate to say the leverage, but like, the game is rigged against Pickens in this specific situation.”
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