Pickens/Porter options?

[Verdict]

I’m curious to see how Cowboys Zoners view the Cowboys options after the close of this season as it relates to Pickens and Porter. The Cowboys seem to have two players here that would be worthy of a tag and only one tag to use.

The Cowboys “could” obviously extend one or the other during this season, and it would be a moot issue. We could easily tag the other.

Obviously the Cowboys know things that the public does not. Porter wanted a new deal NOW and was willing to sit the season out to force a trade. The Cowboys have not agreed to extend him, at least at present, and it seems like Porter is willing to play now, at least for the time being, without a new deal.

I guess it is possible that Porter will play out the season on his current deal, but common sense says that seems a bit unlikely given his prior situation. Maybe he has agreed to give the Cowboys a small sample size of his play to decide whether ti extend him or not? I’d like to hear people’s views on that.

Assuming no in season extensions for either Pickens or Porter, what are the Cowboys options in trading one or the other after the season? How would a trade work of Pickens or Porter without them signing a new deal after the season, or being under a tag? I would assume that is not a possibility.

I would assume that the Cowboys would have or should have had a plan in place to not let Porter walk for a single 3rd (or 4th) round compensatory pick in 2028 for Porter.

Could Pickens be on the way out prior to the trade deadline in the 2026 season? I’d love to hear your thoughts on these topics. Thanks in advance.

 

[jazzcat22]

They can certainly keep both.
Pickens can't be extended or signed until the new league year starting in March.
I believe Porter can be signed still. I read, if true, the thinking was on Dallas the gave up a 2nd round in 2028. If they can't reach a deal with him, and he leaves in FA, the will recoup a 3rd round in a comp pick. Small drop down for a 1 year rental basically.

Porter said he will play out his current contract with Dallas.

There will be a faction on here that will still want to dump Pickens for whatever reasons.

I would like to keep both. But we do need to see Porter's impact on the defense.

 

[jazzcat22]

They could let both walk in FA and get 2 - 3rd round picks in 2028. But highly unlikely.
But that is way too far away to even think about or consider.
One most likely gets tagged, the other signs a deal.

 

[Reality]

My guess is the reason Porter is okay playing in Dallas on his current contract is because the Cowboys can only franchise tag one player next year and they have two contracts to deal with.

That means they will franchise tag Pickens or Porter and the other one either gets a new contract or traded to a team that gives them a new contract.

Either way, the one that gets tagged will get a huge pay day for one season.

That said, given Pickens huge raise this year, he can (and I expect he will) sit out next year if he's tagged again until week 10 or so when he has to play to have the season count.

 

[fivetwos]

If they are truly serious about “winning now,” they can find a way to keep both.

Wouldn’t hurt to quit overpaying dudes like Ferguson and Bland.

 

[Verdict]

They can certainly keep both.
Pickens can't be extended or signed until the new league year starting in March.
I believe Porter can be signed still. I read, if true, the thinking was on Dallas the gave up a 2nd round in 2028. If they can't reach a deal with him, and he leaves in FA, the will recoup a 3rd round in a comp pick. Small drop down for a 1 year rental basically.

Porter said he will play out his current contract with Dallas.

There will be a faction on here that will still want to dump Pickens for whatever reasons.

I would like to keep both. But we do need to see Porter's impact on the defense.

I would assume that everyone would love to keep Pickens if the salary cap were not an issue. I would assume that would be almost unanimous.

Having said that, this team already has a significant investment at QB and WR already. QW just got his new deal.

I am going to assume that barring injury the Cowboys will have to figure out a way to keep Dak around for at least one more season after his current deal expires, to stretch out his cap hit and remain relevant.

On a longer rearm basis both Pickens and Porter remain viable longer term players. But without Dak, what would that look like? Cowboys should be looking for that rookie gem at QB within the next two years unless they are committed to Dak for the foreseeable future.

Anyway, in light of the salary cap, what are the options on moving one or both after the season, without a deal in place or a tag signed?

 

[Verdict]

If they are truly serious about “winning now,” they can find a way to keep both.

Wouldn’t hurt to quit overpaying dudes like Ferguson and Bland.

Yeah. It’s like we feel compelled to play our perceived best players even though said players are not worth their cap hit.

 

[StarOfGlory]

I don’t think we can anything with Pickens until the next official season, but if he puts up 1200 with 10 TD”s I want to keep him.

Porter? I want to see him play in this system before making any judgment.

 

[AsthmaField]

It looks like Jerry is trying to get a bundle deal with the 3 Pitt players to save money on their contracts.

 

[Verdict]

Why will Porter play out the season with us when he wouldn’t do so for the Steelers. I’m not saying he WON’T, I’m asking what would be his possible motivation(s) for doing that?

 

[fivetwos]

Yeah. It’s like we feel compelled to play our perceived best players even though said players are not worth their cap hit.

They can pull it off. The first year of big contract are usually a small cap hit in year one.

If they are truly serious about winning for Jerry, they’d better do it now before they no longer have a QB.

Stephen just has to accept that there’s going to be about two down years, but when you don’t have a QB, that’s not a bad thing. That’s why you need to take your shot then suck it up. They always thought they could pull off not doing that. No.

 

[Coogiguy03]

If they are truly serious about “winning now,” they can find a way to keep both.

Wouldn’t hurt to quit overpaying dudes like Ferguson and Bland.

This right here!!! Start giving these cats one year deals only

 

[CT Dal Fan]

I'm thinking how Pickens and Porter perform the rest of the season determines who gets the tag. And whether or not the other guy gets an immediate extension.

If the Cowboys were smart they would sign Pickens and tag Porter. The CB tag is cheaper.

 

[Flamma]

The positive to signing Porter right now, lets say to a 4 year deal. That gives the Cowboys 5 years to spread out the 4 year deal. Obviously that's better against the cap. Neither Porter or Pickens will be asking for less money.

 

[Kwyn]

If I had to guess, I’d say they keep Porter. He’s a foundational piece for the defense and addresses a serious need.

I never thought they intended to keep Pickens, so even if he has a great season, I doubt they keep him.

We’ll obviously have a better idea by December.

 

[Acceptablename]

Why will Porter play out the season with us when he wouldn’t do so for the Steelers. I’m not saying he WON’T, I’m asking what would be his possible motivation(s) for doing that?

He like's Dallas better then Pittsburg. He says they disrespected him

 

[Techsass]

I’m curious to see how Cowboys Zoners view the Cowboys options after the close of this season as it relates to Pickens and Porter. The Cowboys seem to have two players here that would be worthy of a tag and only one tag to use.

The Cowboys “could” obviously extend one or the other during this season, and it would be a moot issue. We could easily tag the other.

Obviously the Cowboys know things that the public does not. Porter wanted a new deal NOW and was willing to sit the season out to force a trade. The Cowboys have not agreed to extend him, at least at present, and it seems like Porter is willing to play now, at least for the time being, without a new deal.

I guess it is possible that Porter will play out the season on his current deal, but common sense says that seems a bit unlikely given his prior situation. Maybe he has agreed to give the Cowboys a small sample size of his play to decide whether ti extend him or not? I’d like to hear people’s views on that.

Assuming no in season extensions for either Pickens or Porter, what are the Cowboys options in trading one or the other after the season? How would a trade work of Pickens or Porter without them signing a new deal after the season, or being under a tag? I would assume that is not a possibility.

I would assume that the Cowboys would have or should have had a plan in place to not let Porter walk for a single 3rd (or 4th) round compensatory pick in 2028 for Porter.

Could Pickens be on the way out prior to the trade deadline in the 2026 season? I’d love to hear your thoughts on these topics. Thanks in advance.

If Porter continued to hold out another 2 games, he wouldn't get credited for this season & would still have a year left on his rookie contract in 2027.

I read where Pitts offered Porter $28m year & he was still holding out. The problem with Pitts is that they're really low on the guaranteed part of their contracts.

 

[Kwyn]

Why will Porter play out the season with us when he wouldn’t do so for the Steelers. I’m not saying he WON’T, I’m asking what would be his possible motivation(s) for doing that?

The money reason is because the Steelers have one of the strictest policies on guaranteed money. They’ll give a signing bonus but that’s about it.

As a “cash poor” team, they avoid guarantees as much as possible because their cash flow limits their ability to put many millions into escrow on day one, which is what guarantees require.

The Steelers have a bad rep amongst players when it comes to contracts and player support. They also ranked dead last in the NFLPA players poll. Facilities, playing surface, training and recovery were all very bad.

 

[darthseinfeld]

I’m curious to see how Cowboys Zoners view the Cowboys options after the close of this season as it relates to Pickens and Porter. The Cowboys seem to have two players here that would be worthy of a tag and only one tag to use.

The Cowboys “could” obviously extend one or the other during this season, and it would be a moot issue. We could easily tag the other.

Obviously the Cowboys know things that the public does not. Porter wanted a new deal NOW and was willing to sit the season out to force a trade. The Cowboys have not agreed to extend him, at least at present, and it seems like Porter is willing to play now, at least for the time being, without a new deal.

I guess it is possible that Porter will play out the season on his current deal, but common sense says that seems a bit unlikely given his prior situation. Maybe he has agreed to give the Cowboys a small sample size of his play to decide whether ti extend him or not? I’d like to hear people’s views on that.

Assuming no in season extensions for either Pickens or Porter, what are the Cowboys options in trading one or the other after the season? How would a trade work of Pickens or Porter without them signing a new deal after the season, or being under a tag? I would assume that is not a possibility.

I would assume that the Cowboys would have or should have had a plan in place to not let Porter walk for a single 3rd (or 4th) round compensatory pick in 2028 for Porter.

Could Pickens be on the way out prior to the trade deadline in the 2026 season? I’d love to hear your thoughts on these topics. Thanks in advance.

Can't extend Pickens until after the season. If they signed Porter soon, they could probably put alot into this year. They have 30m in cap space. Im not sure how that works as the year goes on though

 

[darthseinfeld]

Why will Porter play out the season with us when he wouldn’t do so for the Steelers. I’m not saying he WON’T, I’m asking what would be his possible motivation(s) for doing that?

Contentious negotiations maybe