Dallas Cowboys insider makes a very discouraging prediction about George Pickens’ future right before the 2026 NFL Draft
The NFL Draft is tonight, but after the Dallas Cowboys’ George Pickens announcement, it’s hard to not think about the increasingly blurry future of the star wide receiver.
Today should be all about the 2026 NFL Draft and the Dallas Cowboys’ approach to it. Alas, co-owner Stephen Jones ensured fans and media members had something else to talk about: George Pickens’ future.
On Wednesday, Jones announced the Cowboys did not plan to negotiate a long-term deal with Pickens. Instead, they’ll want the wide receiver to play on the tag, which he has yet to sign. The reveal adds more questions to Pickens’ already uncertain future in the hours leading up to the draft.
And as one Cowboys insider put it, it’s entirely possible this is Pickens’ last season wearing the Star.
Cowboys insider predicts Pickens’ future
Speaking on 105.3 The Fan about what the team’s decision on Pickens means, Cowboys insider Todd Archer (ESPN) shared a strong prediction. And it’s a discouraging one.
“I think there will be a compensatory pick in 2028 for the Cowboys for George Pickens,” Archer said. “Jerry (Jones) said there’s a long-term plan that they have, he didn’t say the long-term plan is signing him to a long-term contract. [. . .] I don’t see a long-term deal happening here.”
Archer, however, added he expects Pickens to play for the Cowboys in 2026.
Archer’s prediction checks out
As fun and great as Pickens was in 2025, it would be hard to be surprised if the Cowboys indeed let him walk in 2027. This is the same front office that traded standout DT Osa Odighizuwa away because it had too much invested in one position group, albeit it being the lone strength of the defense.
“It’s not easy having two receivers being paid at the top of the market,” Stephen Jones said Wednesday. “Especially when you have other great players on the team, a quarterback that’s been here being the highest-paid player in this league for many years now.”
And though the Cowboys are expected to be in “win now” mode over the next two to three years, they don’t have the kind of front office that takes big risks. If they still see Pickens as somewhat of a risk (based on him only having one great season under his belt and commanding over $30 million per year to get a deal done), it makes sense they want to see another good year out of him.
The biggest concern for fans should be, if he does have a great year in 2026, how can you not extend him? How can you not keep a guy who clearly has chemistry with your $60 million quarterback and your $34 million wide receiver?
Time will tell but for now, I see why Archer thinks this is Pickens’ second and last year in Dallas. I’m hoping it’s not.