Cowboys Legend Sends Strong Message to George Pickens
At this point, the Dallas Cowboys look like they have two of the top-five wide receivers in the NFL. Star wide receiver George Pickens has been as good as anybody could’ve imagined, and continued that against the Washington Commanders in Week 7 with 82 yards on four receptions.
On the season, Pickens already has 607 yards on 36 receptions, including six touchdowns.
With CeeDee Lamb back in the mix, some questioned if he’d still get the football as much or be as dominant as he has been for the Cowboys, but it was clear in Week 7 that he’s still someone Dak Prescott is looking to get the football to.
However, with a contract situation coming up for the Cowboys, it’s a question that looms. Some believe they’ll allow him to walk, while others want him to stay around. That includes former Cowboys legend Dez Bryant, who said that he should look at him and Lamb and want to grow together and be in the Hall of Fame together one day.
“I’d tell George, ‘I guarantee you, brother, it won’t be like this nowhere else. You & CeeDee, you guys are dynamic. Stay together, grow together, go into the HOF together,” he said on 105.3 The Fan.
Should George Pickens Want to Stay With the Cowboys?
Bryant delivers an intriguing pitch for Pickens to stay with the Dallas Cowboys, but players prioritize getting paid. Pickens won’t stay on the roster long-term if the Cowboys fail to make a competitive offer.
The NFL enforces a harsh reality: players earn their pay.
Will George Pickens Want to Leave the Cowboys?
There are also some other aspects that the Dallas Cowboys have to consider, including the fact that Pickens and Micah Parsons both have the same agents.
When Parsons went through this a few months ago, the Cowboys clearly didn’t value him as much as Parsons and his agent thought he was worth. As a result, they traded him to the Green Bay Packers.
Jerry Jones doesn’t believe that’s a problem.
“Don’t pay any attention to that at all. No attention,” Jones said, per Jon Machota of The Athletic. “Too much was made of that — that the agent had something to do with the ultimate decision of where we were. It almost had zero to do with it, period. That’s not a negative; it just didn’t have that kind of influence. I was going to be where I was with Micah, relative to dollars and cents, no matter who represented him.”
Jones took a risk this past offseason by trading for Pickens, considering some of the on-field issues he had. There was never much of a debate about his talent, but Pickens was often seen doing things that he shouldn’t have been doing.
With that out of the picture now, according to Jones, it gives him even more of a reason to go out and get the money he wants.
“He is doing more than we did expect or that we could have expected,” Jones said when speaking about Pickens’ contract. “What’s really special is he’s a real plus to have around the team. He’s a real plus around his teammates, he’s a great plus around those coaches… We knew full well that if things really went like we want them to go that certainly we need to think about having some [salary cap] room available if we’re going to pay a second receiver at that level.”
Ex-Steelers QB Russell Wilson Claps Back at His Former Head Coach With Major Shade
Quarterback Russell Wilson stressed throughout his tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers how much he enjoyed playing for Mike Tomlin. Wilson hasn’t shared those same feelings for his former head coach with the Denver Broncos — Sean Payton.
He’s unlikely to anytime soon.
There appears to be no love loss between Wilson and Payton. This week, the two exchanged insults through traditional and social media.
Wilson fired his shade at the Broncos head coach with a post on X on Tuesday.
“Classless … but not surprised …,” wrote Wilson.
“Didn’t realize you’re still bounty hunting 15+ years later through the media.”
Classless… but not surprised…. Didn’t realize you’re still bounty hunting 15+ years later through the media. 😎😂 #LetsRide 🤣
That post referenced Payton’s year-long suspension for “Bounty Gate. An NFL investigation in 2012 found former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams paid bonuses in a bounty system to his players for deliberately injuring opposing players.
Williams allegedly ran the bounty system under Payton, who was the team’s head coach.
Wilson’s post was in response to Payton essentially telling reporters he would have preferred to face Wilson instead of rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart in Week 7.
“They found a little spark with that quarterback,” Payton said of Dart. “I was talking to [Giants owner] John Mara not too long ago, and I said, ‘We were hoping that that change would have happened long after our game.'”
Russell Wilson Responds to Sean Payton
There have been a lot of rumblings over the past year and a half that Payton didn’t want anything to do with Wilson after their first year together in Denver. Those rumblings reached a fever pitch after December 16, 2023 when cameras caught Payton irate at Wilson along the Broncos sidelines in a game against the Detroit Lions.
After the 2023 season, the Broncos released Wilson despite owning him $39 million.
The Steelers signed Wilson in NFL free agency. Pittsburgh was able to ink him to a league-minimum deal because his contract with the Broncos meant Denver owned him the difference from $39 million.
In summary, Payton and the Broncos paid Wilson about $37.8 million last season to play for the Steelers.
That’s an obvious sign a coach doesn’t like a quarterback.
Wilson has not really addressed his relationship with Payton publicly. But clearly, the quarterback has had enough of Payton subtlety throwing insults at him.
Steelers Media Defends Wilson Against Payton
Things didn’t end well for Wilson in Pittsburgh. After beginning 6-1 as a starter, the Steelers lost their last four regular season games in 2024.
Including the playoffs, Wilson finished with an even 6-6 record with the Steelers.
Even still, some Steelers pundits were glad to see Wilson go on the offensive against Payton after receiving shade from the Broncos head coach.
It may have been classless for Payton to say he’d rather face Wilson than a rookie quarterback. But it’s hard to deny that the Broncos, and Steelers for that matter, are better off without Wilson.
With their comeback against Wilson’s Giants on Sunday, the Broncos improved to 5-2 this season. The Steelers are 4-2 with Aaron Rodgers behind center.
Wilson led the Giants to an 0-3 start before getting benched in favor of Dart. Wilson has lost his last seven regular season starts.
He is 23-35 as a starting quarterback since the start of the 2021 campaign.
