105.3 the fan: Do teams really want Pickens?

[CT Dal Fan]

I also think things are in a holding pattern until after the draft.

Remember, if the Cowboys were able to get Tet McMillan they never would have traded for Pickens to begin with.

If another WR needy team misses out on their guy in the draft, maybe Dallas would be in line to get a very high pick for Pickens in 2027.

 

[KingCorcoran]

yea... the teams only recourse is to release him.... what world are you in? The guy can stay away... and not get paid. He can wait till like week 10 to show up, missing out on millions. The team can tag him next year as well....... which isnt happening. So yea, great job because Pickens and his agent already said they werent doing a deal early. So I guess Jerry could do what our leader is doing and negotiate with himself?

If they don’t like how he approaches his status as hostage to the franchise tag their choice is to wait on him or release him.

 

[charron]

Yes it is.

The cap hit is what matters, not the AAV. He has the 6th-highest cap hit at WR in the league, $8m more than CD. Signing him at $40m drops his cap hit considerably.

The reason it doesn't matter is because they aren't using it on another player anyway. If they extend him today and cut his cap hit in half it changes nothing other than they are locked into more guaranteed money spread out over more years and at some point they will have to eat some dead money. They have enough cap to make whatever moves they want, and can free up money in other ways if needed. So no, his cap hit isn't affecting the team like you think which makes it a moot point.

 

[DarkVader33]

If they aren't close then why tag him? That makes even less sense.

It can be looked at as a bargain for this year and possibly next. I don’t agree with it but I can’t say it’s wrong either. They had to put on the tag to either retain him or sign him long term. If course the other option is to keep him in the tag but we shouldn’t IMO but it seems they maybe want to.

 

[DarkVader33]

The reason it doesn't matter is because they aren't using it on another player anyway. If they extend him today and cut his cap hit in half it changes nothing other than they are locked into more guaranteed money spread out over more years and at some point they will have to eat some dead money. They have enough cap to make whatever moves they want, and can free up money in other ways if needed. So no, his cap hit isn't affecting the team like you think which makes it a moot point.

Not this year but next year yes. I don’t think any of us think we’re going to do anything significant this year anyways.

 

[kramskoi]

Honestly I think its the fatigue of constantly having a terrible defense - i think the concept of trading him and adding another 1st round defensive player makes people feel better than what you are talking to in the offensive mismatch for opposing defenses.

I agree with you that him plus lamb is amazing for matchups but even that being said if we got something like a mid round first and a 4th id do it in a heartbeat simply bc of the reason stated above

How soon we forget what happened in 2022...particularly in the playoffs at San Francisco. The LAST thing I ever want to see is Prescott forcing the ball to Lamb because he thinks it's the only option available. I think they beat the 49ers with Amari Cooper in that WR group. That vacuous trade cost them a title game appearance imo. The defense was good enough on the day.

 

[ConstantReboot]

Sure, but that's not the question. Do they want to pay a one year wonder huge money, that is the question. Will his production be sustained? Is he over the attitude issues? Too many questions for that price tag.

Everything has risk. But when a team fixates only on avoiding mistakes, it ends up choosing the safest, cheapest options—short-term deals and bargain-bin players who rarely move the needle. Do that long enough and you don’t just avoid risk, you build a roster with no upside. That’s how you end up with one of the worst defenses in the league.

Sometimes the bigger risk is the one you don’t take. Years of playing it safe have turned this team into one that’s scared of free agency and overly dependent on the draft. When you limit yourself like that, you start reaching for players earlier than you should, hoping they turn into something they probably won’t. That’s not smart team-building—that’s fear-driven decision-making.

I also don’t buy into the media narrative. It's obvious they tend to protect Jerry and Stephen and side with the front office instead of asking hard questions. I actually want players like Pickens to get paid. If the front office keeps dragging its feet on contracts, it only makes things worse and more expensive down the line. Just look at what happened with Dak and CeeDee. Delays and procrastination didn’t save money—they forced the team into massive deals that now limit flexibility and hurt the roster more than they help it.

Playing scared doesn’t prevent damage. It just guarantees it shows up later, and at a much higher cost.

 

[kramskoi]

Yes. This is the right answer. The same way that the Cowboys are not stressing over linebackers.

The Cowboys will get what they need in the draft, add in roster cutdowns after the draft, or trade for one after the draft.

Linebackers who would not be traded by their team now will be available after the draft, due to roster additions. This seems to be a talented and deep linebacker class.

There "should" be some good options post-draft. The only question is how aggressive will the Cowboys be the second time around.

 

[ConstantReboot]

Osa = T Crawford. We did exactly the same thing w/ him. Both are decent rotational types. Jerry doesn't like drafting DT's, or D in general. Soooo, when someone shows even the slightest sign of life, he pays them big then goes back to his TEs and WRs.

When a team refuses to spend in free agency, this is the result. Instead of filling holes with proven players, they reach in the draft and hope something sticks. To patch things up, they rely on one‑year bargain contracts that rarely move the needle. Eventually, they back themselves into a corner and have no choice but to overpay their own players, because they avoided free agency and failed to draft well in the first place.

 

[kramskoi]

And delays future compensation into later years. And with him possibly not on the team with dead cap money. Your way is fine if you want to mortgage the future for the now. I’d be okay with your way if we were closer to a Super Bowl caliber team. But we aren’t close.

The Eagles are in a far worse place when it comes to void year cap liabilities (i.e...kicking the can down the road). They lead the league with a massive 427 million. The Cowboys rank #21 (26 million as of June 2025). The Panthers, Lions and Bears are the only NFC teams ranked below the Cowboys. The Eagles do this with the knowledge that the continued (annual) increases in the salary cap ceiling will continue unabated. The Cowboys could be significantly more aggressive than they have been. They are actually pretty frugal when it comes down to it. And this has been the knock on them since 2021. Not doing nearly enough to supplement a team to the level required to win a championship.

 

[Reid1boys]

If they don’t like how he approaches his status as hostage to the franchise tag their choice is to wait on him or release him.

Aint nobody releasing a guy you tagged. Like I said, what world are you in?

 

[Verdict]

There "should" be some good options post-draft. The only question is how aggressive will the Cowboys be the second time around.

Obviously the Cowboys could just drop the ball entirely and not add any legitimate linebackers. I see that as very highly unlikely. I’m not going to lament something that hasn’t happened yet when there is still PLENTY of time and options to remedy thy situation.

Maybe the hand wringers will ultimately be right, but from my point of view all the hand wringing is premature.

 

[gimmesix]

Exactly......With the Seahawks' WR new deal, I don't see him signing long-term until 2027. My guess is he will sign the tag to try to prove that his value is top 5.

I would assume. Almost every year we've tagged a player, they've played on the tag the first year. When we tag them again the next year, we usually work out a deal.

That's been the pattern of operation with the tag for this front office. Of course, one of the exceptions was another receiver, Dez Bryant, who held out ahead of the tag deadline and came to a new agreement. That could happen with Pickens, but I think because of how low the tag is compared to what the Seattle receiver just got, that the descrepancy between the tag and salary demands will be too much.

 

[kskboys]

Everything has risk. But when a team fixates only on avoiding mistakes, it ends up choosing the safest, cheapest options—short-term deals and bargain-bin players who rarely move the needle. Do that long enough and you don’t just avoid risk, you build a roster with no upside. That’s how you end up with one of the worst defenses in the league.

Sometimes the bigger risk is the one you don’t take. Years of playing it safe have turned this team into one that’s scared of free agency and overly dependent on the draft. When you limit yourself like that, you start reaching for players earlier than you should, hoping they turn into something they probably won’t. That’s not smart team-building—that’s fear-driven decision-making.

I also don’t buy into the media narrative. It's obvious they tend to protect Jerry and Stephen and side with the front office instead of asking hard questions. I actually want players like Pickens to get paid. If the front office keeps dragging its feet on contracts, it only makes things worse and more expensive down the line. Just look at what happened with Dak and CeeDee. Delays and procrastination didn’t save money—they forced the team into massive deals that now limit flexibility and hurt the roster more than they help it.

Playing scared doesn’t prevent damage. It just guarantees it shows up later, and at a much higher cost.

Sure, but that doesn't answer the quesion. Do you really want to pay a one year wonder w/ possible attitude issues a humongous salary?

Doing so and being wrong sets your team back years.

 

[kskboys]

The Eagles are in a far worse place when it comes to void year cap liabilities (i.e...kicking the can down the road). They lead the league with a massive 427 million. The Cowboys rank #21 (26 million as of June 2025). The Panthers, Lions and Bears are the only NFC teams ranked below the Cowboys. The Eagles do this with the knowledge that the continued (annual) increases in the salary cap ceiling will continue unabated. The Cowboys could be significantly more aggressive than they have been. They are actually pretty frugal when it comes down to it. And this has been the knock on them since 2021. Not doing nearly enough to supplement a team to the level required to win a championship.

Don't see how. They're not that far under the cap and still need to pay draft picks.

 

[LouBrown]

It can be looked at as a bargain for this year and possibly next.

No it can't because it is a needlessly excessive cap hit.

 

[LouBrown]

The reason it doesn't matter is because they aren't using it on another player anyway. If they extend him today and cut his cap hit in half it changes nothing other than they are locked into more guaranteed money spread out over more years and at some point they will have to eat some dead money. They have enough cap to make whatever moves they want, and can free up money in other ways if needed. So no, his cap hit isn't affecting the team like you think which makes it a moot point.

You extend him two months ago and then have way more money for the FA period

 

[ConstantReboot]

Sure, but that doesn't answer the quesion. Do you really want to pay a one year wonder w/ possible attitude issues a humongous salary?

Doing so and being wrong sets your team back years.

What doesn’t make sense is the way Pickens gets singled out.

People are so sure he’s a one‑year wonder or a “team wrecker,” but no one ever clearly explains how his attitude actually ruined the Cowboys. Yes, he had maturity issues in Pittsburgh, and that’s fair to bring up, but it doesn’t erase the fact that he’s been highly productive and has already shown he can play at an elite level.

At the same time, no one wants to talk about the contracts that have actually hurt the Cowboys. Bad deals with homegrown players have done far more damage to this roster than any potential Pickens contract ever could. Martin, Osa, Zeke, Bland, Ferguson, Diggs — those contracts are real, they’re on the books, and they’ve had consequences. Yet the media barely touches them.

Instead, the focus is always on why the Cowboys shouldn’t sign Pickens. I don’t listen to Cowboys media for this reason — it’s a lot of homer talk and recycled “all‑in” narratives that never hold the front office accountable.

If the Cowboys sign Pickens and it doesn’t work out, then so be it. At least then there’s a legitimate argument about taking a risk in free agency. But right now, they’ve already signed more disastrous contracts with their own players, and no one wants to bring that up. Singling out Pickens while ignoring those failures just doesn’t make logical sense.

 

[DarkVader33]

No it can't because it is a needlessly excessive cap hit.

Why are you ignoring the future cap savings by not pushing money forward? Let’s say we tag him and he plays this year and next. Then we draft a receiver high next year. In 2028 we won’t be paying a high salary for a second receiver if he pans out. And you may get a 3rd round comp pick fire Pickens. Do you see any negatives in this scenario? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it’s the best option, but not a bad one either, not the huge mistake you’re making it out to be.

 

[big dog cowboy]

What the Cowboys did was PERFECT. They didnt lock him in. They are allowing him to go work out a deal with other teams. And if he doesnt, hes locked in for high 20 something million which is an absolute bargain, and they are free to try to get the long term deal done in the next few months. Absolutely perfect by the FO.

Correctamundo.