However bad things have been between super-agent David Mulugheta and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in the past, you can safely guess they will be much, much worse over the next year.
That’s because Mulugheta will head into 2027 with 2 of his clients asking the Cowboys for what should be record-setting money at different positions: NFL All-Pro wide receiver George Pickens and cornerback Joey Porter Jr., whom the Cowboys acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers late Wednesday night.
Mulugheta and Jones, no strangers to controversy, had 1 of the great owner-agent beefs in recent memory before the 2025 season when they went to war over former Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons.
Parsons and the Cowboys were engaged in lengthy, nasty contract negotiations that ultimately led to him being jettisoned from Dallas in a trade with the Green Bay Packers, and Mulugheta going scorched earth on Jones afterward.
Mulugheta: Jones Lied About Contract Negotiations
Mulugheta left little to the imagination about how he understood what happened between the Cowboys, Jones, and Parsons.
Mulugheta went on ESPN’s “First Take” in September 2025 — less than 1 week after Parsons was traded to the Green Bay Packers — and hit back at claims by the Cowboys and Jones that a deal had been negotiated and agreed to separate from Mulugheta and that Parsons and his representation had reneged on the deal.
“Micah got a call from Jerry’s assistant that he was being asked to come in and talk about leadership (with Jones),” Mulugheta said. “So the meeting was represented to Micah that it was going to be a talk about leadership that turned into a talk about his contract. So there’s a 25-year-old sitting in a room with his boss, the most powerful man in the NFL, who is telling him he wants to talk about his contract so he’s sitting there and nodding because what’s he supposed to do? There’s a power dynamic there that also needs to be addressed … but at no point did Micah believe he was negotiating a contract.”
Contracts for Porter Jr., Pickens Could Fetch $350M
The Cowboys traded with the Steelers for Pickens before the 2025 season and watched him come into his own as 1 of the NFL’s elite wide receivers, earning NFL All-Pro honors for the 1st time.
They also did what seemed impossible with his contract — what looked like another battle over an extension ended when Pickens agreed to play on the $27.2 million franchise tag for 2026.
The Cowboys have already made it clear they won’t be giving Porter Jr. an extension right away, either. He’ll need to show he’s elite over the rest of the 2026 season.
Don’t expect Pickens to be as forgiving in 2027. Right now, Spotrac projects the 2 contracts for Pickens and Porter Jr. will total around $332 million on a pair of 4-year extensions. If things go right for the Cowboys the rest of the way, that combined number could easily shoot up to closer to $350 million.
“The Cowboys now have two players they traded for who want lucrative extensions: CB Joey Porter Jr. and WR George Pickens, both of whom are represented by Micah Parsons’ agent, David Mulugheta,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote on his official X account on October 1.
“The Cowboys have 20 players set to be unrestricted free agents in 2027 and six are represented by David Mulugheta: George Pickens, Joey Porter Jr., DeMarvion Overshown, P.J. Locke, Broderick Jones, Malik Hooker,” ESPN’s Todd Archer wrote on his official X account on September 30.
Joey Porter Jr.’s Agent: Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Lies About Contracts