Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones won’t be able to just re-sign wide receiver George Pickens for 2027 and call it good.
That’s because Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers threw a wrench into the wideout market Tuesday with a four-year, $140 million contract, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Flowers is now the fourth-highest-paid receiver in the league behind Jaxson Smith-Njigba, Ja’Marr Chase and Drake London.
Flowers passed Cowboys wideout CeeDee Lamb and Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson in the process. Lamb’s contract of four years, $136 million started in 2024 and runs through 2028, and Pickens is playing on the franchise tag at $27.29 million. Brett Kollmann of All 32 and the Bootleg Football podcast sees it as a problem for the Cowboys.
“I have no idea what the Cowboys are going to do with CeeDee and Pickens,” Kollmann wrote on Tuesday via X.
It’s worth noting that Flowers gets $108 million guaranteed in this deal, another consideration for Jones and other owners across the league. Pickens could command $30.6 million annually or the equivalent of a four-year, $122.42 million deal next year.
That’s presuming Pickens only has a 2026 comparable to his 2025 season of 93 receptions , 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns. If Pickens puts up significantly bigger numbers, his asking price will only go up.
Lamb could soon ask for a contract restructure after the Flowers deal, and that’s not unheard of. Former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill sought a contract restructure in 2024 after Jefferson’s former market-setting deal.
Jerry Jones on George Pickens: ‘Could Be a Cowboy For the Rest Of His Career’
Time will tell if Jones can make good on the possibility of Pickens staying around.
The Cowboys owner talked about Pickens at the outset of training camp well before the Flowers news came this week. Dallas originally obtained Pickens last year in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“This can be a very win-win thing that we’ve done here: us, George and George being on the team,” Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said during a July 28 press conference. “Make no mistake about it: George could be a Cowboy for the rest of his career, and that would be a long time. Make no mistake about it. This [the franchise tag] just fit for us, and thank goodness it fit for him, and we got it done.”
Dallas will need to pony up much more money for Pickens in 2027, and that’s in addition to a possible contract restructure for Lamb.
CeeDee Lamb Addresses Last Season’s Injuries
Lamb had a second consecutive season with injuries last year, and that could be a concern for the Cowboys if the two come to the negotiation table for a contract restructure.
He sustained a concussion last year after already missing three games due to a high ankle sprain. Lamb missed two games the year before with a shoulder A/C joint sprain.
“Yeah, you can’t really avoid freak things like that,” Lamb told reporters on Aug. 1. “That’s just what happened… But as for me, just taking care of my body, relaxing, red lights, lots of different things to get the soft tissue going. And around later on in the season, that’s kind of when it’s going to be beneficial for me.
Cowboys in a Pickle Amid Massive WR Zay Flowers Signing