George Pickens goes to Dallas without a new contract

Add George Pickens to the list of players who will be waiting for new contracts from the Cowboys.

Pickens arrives without a new deal, while entering the fourth year of his four-year rookie contract. He's due to make $3.526 million. Which equates to roughly 10 percent of the new-money average per year paid to new Steelers receiver DK Metcalf. And not much more than 10 percent of Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb's $34 million APY.

It will be impossible for the Cowboys to justify paying Pickens without seeing him play, especially since they still haven't paid a dominant defensive player they have seen play for four years. Pickens necessarily gets in line behind Micah Parsons, and perhaps others like 2022 first-round guard Tyler Smith.

The problem for the Cowboys is that Pickens has one year to go until he's eligible for free agency or the franchise-tag dance. They'll have to decide during the season or immediately after it ends whether to make Pickens a fair offer on a new deal, if they decide to keep him around. (If they wait until the season ends, Pickens should wait to see whether they tag him before accepting any new deal.)

Even if they decide to keep Pickens, it will be hard for him to get what we've heard he wants — $30 million per year. Combined with Lamb's deal, that ends up being a lot of money to invest into the receiver position.

The worst-case scenario for the Cowboys would entail: (1) Pickens having a huge year; (2) Pickens becoming highly attractive in free agency; and (3) Pickens leaving. However, they'd then have a chance to get in 2027 the third-round pick they'll be sending to Pittsburgh in 2026, via the compensatory draft-pick formula.

Regardless of how it plays out, owner/G.M. Jerry Jones has added another spinning plate to his endless collection of incomplete contracts.

History tells us that he'll drag his feet for as long as he can. Whether he ever does a deal with Pickens will depend largely on what Pickens does once he gets on the field.