George Pickens has an easy decision to make after latest Jerry Jones’ comments on pending negotiation
The Dallas Cowboys are kicking off the George Pickens negotiations with a questionable approach.
With the Dallas Cowboys season all but over, get ready for a lot of George Pickens-related news over the next few months. A lot.
This is, after all, the way of negotiating with the Cowboys. You gotta stay making headlines. And owner Jerry Jones is already setting the table with a very specific comment that caught the attention of the NFL world. And if Pickens wants to play it smart, he has an easy decision to make. And he can make it now. Let’s break it all down.
Jones vs Mulugheta II starts now
Speaking on 105.3 The Fan earlier this week, Jerry Jones was asked if he will be talking to Mulugheta once his negotiations with Pickens start.
“I don’t know,” Jones said. “We’ll see how it goes. Probably both, but I certainly expect to be speaking with George.”
The comments sent the NFL world into a frenzy for an obvious reason: This is how the Micah Parsons negotiations went south. And now, it appears Jones is ready for another round.
Allow me to catch up those who are missing the context: Pickens is represented by one of—if not the—most powerful agent in the sport, David Mulugheta. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because he represented Parsons in the negotiations for a long-term extension that fell apart right before the start of the 2025 NFL season.
Said negotiations fell apart largely because Jones refused to reach out to Mulugheta, wishing to speak to Parsons directly instead. Jones held a meeting with Parsons in which he alleged a handshake deal was made. Parsons later described the meeting as being “held to close door negotiations without my agent present.” Later in the offseason, Jones went as far as saying that he didn’t know Mulugheta’s name.
When the Parsons trade was complete, both Mulugheta and Jones said they would keep future negotiations profesional and claimed the Parsons saga would not be taken personally. To achieve that goal, there’s a decision George Pickens can and should make.
George Pickens needs to avoid the one mistake Parsons made
Despite Jerry’s comments, in the aftermath of the Parsons trade, Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones claimed the front office respected players who wished to stay away from negotiations.
“We do have players that come in, and we totally respect it, that say ‘I don’t feel comfortable talking about my contract, I’d like to go through my agent,” Stephen said in late August. “And we do that respectfully. You’re not required to come in and negotiate the contract yourself.”
Pickens needs to make sure to take Stephen up on that claim.
He needs to avoid at all costs getting into a closed-door meeting with Jerry. Nothing good can come out of the contrary. There’s a reason why Jerry wants to undercut agents whenever there’s a chance. His pitch is all about a family-like business, but he knows very well how much of an advantage he has when negotiating with young players.
Pickens has done his part and balled out. He’s about to finish the season with All-Pro-caliber stats. He proved during CeeDee Lamb’s absence due to injury that he can emerge as a WR1 despite double coverage. He came to Dallas to raise his price tag, and he has.
Now, he needs to let his agent do the work. And for both parties involved, it’s the best thing that can happen. We’ll see how much the Cowboys learned from the Parsons saga.
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