Stephen says Cowboys will finalize franchise tag for George Pickens

[john van brocklin]

We think the world of him, but in no rush to actually sign him.

 

[Chasing6]

The fact that they haven’t cleared cap space yet isn’t proof that they won’t. We know they have to clear space just to get under the cap per the league rules. They already have the money available. They drew up the contracts so they could be restructured. I’m not saying they definitely will be big players in free agency. I’m just saying the fact that they haven’t yet cleared cap space doesn’t mean anything.

Man you could not predict a pattern if your life depended on it.

 

[noshame]

Tag and trade. let somebody else deal with the upcoming headaches and there will be headaches. i'll be happy to take the draft pick.

 

[KingCorcoran]

Tag and trade. let somebody else deal with the upcoming headaches and there will be headaches. i'll be happy to take the draft pick.

And if he doesn’t sign the tag immediately, what then?

 

[jazzcat22]

The fact that they haven’t cleared cap space yet isn’t proof that they won’t. We know they have to clear space just to get under the cap per the league rules. They already have the money available. They drew up the contracts so they could be restructured. I’m not saying they definitely will be big players in free agency. I’m just saying the fact that they haven’t yet cleared cap space doesn’t mean anything.

I been telling him this for a week now. To give them time, as it all can't be done now, when fans, or a fan, want it done.

 

[jazzcat22]

Tag and trade. let somebody else deal with the upcoming headaches and there will be headaches. i'll be happy to take the draft pick.

What headaches?

 

[Chasing6]

And if he doesn’t sign the tag immediately, what then?

Trade him.

 

[Coogiguy03]

I been telling him this for a week now. To give them time, as it all can't be done now, when fans, or a fan, want it done.

I want to know the ins and outs of coming up with a contract, and negotiating the actual numbers and language in the contract and why it takes as long as it does.

Market value is 34 million, the player says he wants 35, you're really going to hold that player's money up over 1 extra million dollars??? I know there's things to think of like other players on the team but sheesh!

 

[Rockport]

The fact that they haven’t cleared cap space yet isn’t proof that they won’t. We know they have to clear space just to get under the cap per the league rules. They already have the money available. They drew up the contracts so they could be restructured. I’m not saying they definitely will be big players in free agency. I’m just saying the fact that they haven’t yet cleared cap space doesn’t mean anything.

They already started clearing up cap space by releasing Wilson.

 

[Rockport]

Tag and Trade George

Right, just get rid of their best players. Can’t make this stuff up. I’m sure you want to get rid of Dak as well.

 

[jazzcat22]

I want to know the ins and outs of coming up with a contract, and negotiating the actual numbers and language in the contract and why it takes as long as it does.

Market value is 34 million, the player says he wants 35, you're really going to hold that player's money up over 1 extra million dollars??? I know there's things to think of like other players on the team but sheesh!

A lot of things in the contract we do not know about, nor need to know about. Some technical language, legal jargon. Incentives. Injury clauses. How and when things are paid. Does the shot of JWB they have once the contract is done, does that count against the cap, or does Jerry eat the cost.

They will not keep the fans informed of a step by step, minute by minute negotiations if that is what you want.

To us, yes, why the hang up over $1 million. But you know what, if Jerry would cave and give that extra $1 million. Guess what, fans would complain about it. Say it wrecks the cap.

 

[Coogiguy03]

A lot of things in the contract we do not know about, nor need to know about. Some technical language, legal jargon. Incentives. Injury clauses. How and when things are paid. Does the shot of JWB they have once the contract is done, does that count against the cap, or does Jerry eat the cost.

They will not keep the fans informed of a step by step, minute by minute negotiations if that is what you want.

To us, yes, why the hang up over $1 million. But you know what, if Jerry would cave and give that extra $1 million. Guess what, fans would complain about it. Say it wrecks the cap.

They'll do that either way you know how that goes! I can't wait until our first signing in FA prepare the biggest box of tissues you can!!

 

[blueblood70]

The best this offense ever looked under Prescott was in 2021 (aside from 2016)...when you had Lamb and Cooper in the mix. Led the league in ppg that year. The next year (after trading Cooper) they regressed offensively and it caught up with them at San Francisco in the playoffs. Gallup was never again the player he was pre-injury. No receiver in the draft is going to give you what Pickens gives you now. You are reducing an offense and taking a weapon from Prescott, when doing so has proven ill-advised in the past.

WRONG, I mean I get it but 2023 by far with the least number of protections through the run game, and the WR 2, they had the best production.

Proves that Lamb can do this with Prescott and without a bunch of stuff,

So what, YES we need is a solid WR2, just a really good one, we do not need an elite top flight super starter as WR2..

show me where some other examples in the league of teams going deep in the playoffs with two receivers playing for over $34 million apiece? Show me where that's the blueprint for success or our fans being a little bit selfish thinking that's what they need on the other side when most teams cannot afford to do that and still maintain a better built and deeper team throughout.

Yes it's nice to have another guy on the other side like GP,

but when you say regress,

you're forgetting that those years sometimes or because of injuries ,and what not And the points per game in 2022, five of those were because Cooper Rush, who everyone here still claims could run this offense better because he doesn't turn the ball over he stays within the lines, oh that's right he had this offense so bad that little stretch that Dak missed, I believe it was five games, Literally had our offense bottom 10 in points and all other categories by the way.. The defense and special teams They were playing great in that little stretch is why we won the games but our offense was horrible..

then Prescott came back with a broken hand a little early already recovering from like a problem with his calf, I believe in preseason whatever it was it was , not because of WR2, because of a lot of other factors, you're choosing to forget whether it's purposeful or not you're forgetting the actual issues in 2022 it was not missing Amari Cooper it was more than that.. He brought that team during that stretch he got back back up to top three as a matter of fact in scoring and all that to end that season they were on top.



when Prescott came back in 2022 after being injured just because the interceptions were higher we all know why most of it were drops ricochets, bad routes, or Prescott being hit while in the process of throwing, because of a bad offensive line at times and we still have that problem at tackle,

but I just want to remind you that 2023 was awesome and they did not have Amari Cooper or George Pickens And I believe this offense the scheme and what not is better they have a better run game,

So, I believe they'll be OK without George Pickens..

Prescott win healthy and has a little bit of help He's fine with just having Lamb and a good wide receiver room and the tight ends just doing their job and a good run game It's already been proven although George Pickens has never proven he couldn't do it without help He's never been on his own out on an island and we saw how Lamb and Prescott destroyed the league in 2023..


Yes,

we need to make sure we draft A WR2 and we might need to bring in another veteran for about a third of the price, that can be coupled with Flournoy, the draftee, and the rest of the offense,

I think will be just fine..

 

[KingCorcoran]

Trade him.

He can’t be traded if he has not signed the franchise tag. He, and his agent, will simply sit on the tag until Jerry grants teams permission to negotiate with them. I think Jerry will be uneasy turning that kind of control over to David Mulugheta.

Maybe not. Jerry Jones has supposedly changed.

 

[Chasing6]

He can’t be traded if he has not signed the franchise tag. He, and his agent, will simply sit on the tag until Jerry grants teams permission to negotiate with them. I think Jerry will be uneasy turning that kind of control over to David Mulugheta.

Maybe not. Jerry Jones has supposedly changed.

He wasn't uneasy to do it with Micah.

 

[blueblood70]

A lot of things in the contract we do not know about, nor need to know about. Some technical language, legal jargon. Incentives. Injury clauses. How and when things are paid. Does the shot of JWB they have once the contract is done, does that count against the cap, or does Jerry eat the cost.

They will not keep the fans informed of a step by step, minute by minute negotiations if that is what you want.

To us, yes, why the hang up over $1 million. But you know what, if Jerry would cave and give that extra $1 million. Guess what, fans would complain about it. Say it wrecks the cap.

Market value for A WR 2 is not 34,

if he wants to go be the Lone Ranger on another team, out on an island by himself, like he was in Pittsburgh, go ahead, go get your 34-35, but when you're here complimenting an already elite very highly paid wide receiver, you're considered WR2,

I don't care if you want to call him 1B, the problem here is that he is not the starter here, he would be considered WR2, WR2s around the league their market is 30 tops.

See where this all goes ,because all the markets fluctuate, I don't care if he had an elite season,

because he's never proved on his own, like Lamb did in 2023, that he and Prescott without a whole lot of else on offense, lit it up, had a record year.

GP had the benefit of being in this offense and then he had a career year, but it is also a contract year, buyer beware, but his market is not 34, his market here or any other team that would be adding him to a wide receiver room that has an elite receiver, you make less, that's how it works, that's the concession,

do you want to continue to have years like that and stay in Dallas or do you want to go ego-chase 35 million elsewhere??

that's fine with me, but the market to me is 30.

You know how I know this, because really the franchise tag is setting the market the market is top 5 ,you don't need to be market setting or resetting the market, to get market money, market money right now is 28.8.

See you guys are buying into this whole George Pickens deserves to be in the same category with any other receiver up for a big contract this year, IE JSN, that's considered an elite starter, and that's where you went wrong in that case,

he needs to leave, we need to take the picks, and we need to use that money elsewhere on the team, that's the point If he wants to be here then he needs to take 30, There's nothing wrong with 30 when you know you can already be successful in an offense you're already comfortable versus going into the unknown and being back in a Pittsburgh situation, because if that's your number, 35 because it's all about money ,and you're not willing to compromise,

It's not on the front office for allowing him to leave here,

it's the same thing that going through with Aubrey right now, they offered him more money than any other kicker in the league, and no I don't know the details of the contract, but it's still the highest paid and he wants more!!

that's not on the front office, that is a greedy agent, by the way from the same firm that David and Pickens, and we went through with Parsons, are all part of the same damn firm, and they're all do the same thing!!

they're holding these negotiations up by being delusional and thinking their market is what you think it is here with Dallas, his market is being paid as the highest paid WR2, not the top market setting money for WR1.

I consider him 1B but that's not what you would get paid if you're staying the same situation, you were in last year.

It's the reality of contract negotiations are being mixed up between fans, Agents, players and front office,

if he's willing to take 30, he's in a perfect situation, I don't see how you need to be at 34- 35, because 30 puts you right now as it sits 7th in the league in wide receivers, how is that somehow too little, 7th, there's probably a 100 receivers in this league, if not more, and you're being offered top seven, your 7th overall in pay, and somehow that's disrespectful nowadays ,and there's the disconnect ,and fans can argue about it all day long.

You want Pickens to stay here but it can't be at the detriment of building the rest of the team, and right now he needs to be the highest paid WR2, and that would be 30,

the cap says so, the tag says 28.8, therefore that is the market, If you're in that area, you're being offered a great deal.

I'm not even mad at George wanting to be in that situation the stroke his ego goes somewhere be the guy but here you're not the guy lamb is the guy regardless of what last year said...

He has a right to go chase the biggest bag he wants but it won't be in Dallas, and I won't be mad when he leaves and we get all those draft picks, But I also hope he wants to stay and sees that reality.

 

[KingCorcoran]

He wasn't uneasy to do it with Micah.

He knew he could trade Micah without Micah’s permission. For Jerry, the only concern is what the Cowboys get in return for Parsons. Pickens’ situation is decidedly different. George has say as to what team he can be traded to, if traded at all. And the other 31 teams are all well aware of Jerry’s situation. All 31 teams have a smarter GM than the Cowboys.

Very different scenario.

 

[blueblood70]

You are never actually going to be paying him 30 mil/yr. That's erroneous. The contract can be structured in a way that mitigates the short term impact to the cap situation. He can and will be restructured. Dak's base salary in 2025 after restructuring was ~ 2 million dollars. The cap ceiling increases every year. I'm not worried about what the cap situation MIGHT be four or five years from now. If we are in a win now mode (the next two or three years) then lets max out both sides of the ball and get the thing done...OR...blow it all up and do an ACTUAL rebuild, circa 1989 or 2003.

I do NOT Care how much you can manipulate the cap, right now we're already doing that with Lamb, that's the point,

his stuff is back loaded, he will be making 39 and 40 million His last two years here, was so have to redo again, you can't back load everybody's deals, you can't have two receivers making less money the first couple years and then it all due at the same time,

I don't care how anyone else feels, I'm telling you how I feel ,we already have an elite starting receiver on this team, and trying to fit another one in that's demanding to be a new market setting guy, is where I draw the line, that's where I draw the line,

so you guys can think how you want...

I Think it would be bad to sign in for anything over 30 that makes him the seventh highest paid receiver in the league as it stands right now,

if that's not good enough for him bon voyage...

It's not against George, it's not greedy, but if he wants to be the guy, he needs to go to a team that needs a starting receiver, that needs to be the number one big dog on the team..

we already have that, and yes it will be nice to add him to that but not that the detriment of building the team ,right now ,where we have no defense at all ,

oh that's right we have 3-20 million dollar a year AAV defensive tackles, that play the middle, and that's it..

WE Have like five players on defense maybe 6 ,that you can pencil in and say maybe they can be starters in this new defense, that's it,

we also need a left tackle, we need a lot of things, and I know you can massage and manipulate the cap, but at some point you need to do what's right for the team, like they did last year in trading Parsons,

it was the right move regardless if we lost talent that we need to replace.

It's my strong opinion it's nothing against George, George can go chase his bag somewhere else I'm looking at the rest of the teams how they made the Super Bowl how they make the playoffs and there isn't a single team out there playing two receivers 34 million and above and whether it looks like that to you, that's where I draw the line, at 30..

I don't care if that's the real number or not, you're already massaging the cap with Prescott and Lamb and others restructuring, so much assets on offense,

I think it's time to turn to the defense...

 

[KingCorcoran]

Market value for A WR 2 is not 34,

if he wants to go be the Lone Ranger on another team, out on an island by himself, like he was in Pittsburgh, go ahead, go get your 34-35, but when you're here complimenting an already elite very highly paid wide receiver, you're considered WR2,

I don't care if you want to call him 1B, the problem here is that he is not the starter here, he would be considered WR2, WR2s around the league their market is 30 tops.

See where this all goes ,because all the markets fluctuate, I don't care if he had an elite season,

because he's never proved on his own, like Lamb did in 2023, that he and Prescott without a whole lot of else on offense, lit it up, had a record year.

GP had the benefit of being in this offense and then he had a career year, but it is also a contract year, buyer beware, but his market is not 34, his market here or any other team that would be adding him to a wide receiver room that has an elite receiver, you make less, that's how it works, that's the concession,

do you want to continue to have years like that and stay in Dallas or do you want to go ego-chase 35 million elsewhere??

that's fine with me, but the market to me is 30.

You know how I know this, because really the franchise tag is setting the market the market is top 5 ,you don't need to be market setting or resetting the market, to get market money, market money right now is 28.8.

See you guys are buying into this whole George Pickens deserves to be in the same category with any other receiver up for a big contract this year, IE JSN, that's considered an elite starter, and that's where you went wrong in that case,

he needs to leave, we need to take the picks, and we need to use that money elsewhere on the team, that's the point If he wants to be here then he needs to take 30, There's nothing wrong with 30 when you know you can already be successful in an offense you're already comfortable versus going into the unknown and being back in a Pittsburgh situation, because if that's your number, 35 because it's all about money ,and you're not willing to compromise,

It's not on the front office for allowing him to leave here,

it's the same thing that going through with Aubrey right now, they offered him more money than any other kicker in the league, and no I don't know the details of the contract, but it's still the highest paid and he wants more!!

that's not on the front office, that is a greedy agent, by the way from the same firm that David and Pickens, and we went through with Parsons, are all part of the same damn firm, and they're all do the same thing!!

they're holding these negotiations up by being delusional and thinking their market is what you think it is here with Dallas, his market is being paid as the highest paid WR2, not the top market setting money for WR1.

I consider him 1B but that's not what you would get paid if you're staying the same situation, you were in last year.

It's the reality of contract negotiations are being mixed up between fans, Agents, players and front office,

if he's willing to take 30, he's in a perfect situation, I don't see how you need to be at 34- 35, because 30 puts you right now as it sits 7th in the league in wide receivers, how is that somehow too little, 7th, there's probably a 100 receivers in this league, if not more, and you're being offered top seven, your 7th overall in pay, and somehow that's disrespectful nowadays ,and there's the disconnect ,and fans can argue about it all day long.

You want Pickens to stay here but it can't be at the detriment of building the rest of the team, and right now he needs to be the highest paid WR2, and that would be 30,

the cap says so, the tag says 28.8, therefore that is the market, If you're in that area, you're being offered a great deal.

I'm not even mad at George wanting to be in that situation the stroke his ego goes somewhere be the guy but here you're not the guy lamb is the guy regardless of what last year said...

He has a right to go chase the biggest bag he wants but it won't be in Dallas, and I won't be mad when he leaves and we get all those draft picks, But I also hope he wants to stay and sees that reality.

He’s been paid an average of $2.2 million per year for the first 4 years of his career. He, and his agent, probably believe he’s been worth more than that. But it’s the system that exists and Pickens accepted it and signed to be an NFL player.

The contract situation he’s in now is part of the same system. He was taken advantage of for the first four years. Now he’s going to exercise every advantage he can to get as much money as he can. It works both ways. Why would you begrudge Pickens getting as much as he can, but allow owners to get as much as they can?

 

[big dog cowboy]

He’s been paid an average of $2.2 million per year for the first 4 years of his career. He, and his agent, probably believe he’s been worth more than that. But it’s the system that exists and Pickens accepted it and signed to be an NFL player.

The contract situation he’s in now is part of the same system. He was taken advantage of for the first four years. Now he’s going to exercise every advantage he can to get as much money as he can. It works both ways. Why would you begrudge Pickens getting as much as he can, but allow owners to get as much as they can?

Great post! Very well said.