FRISCO, Texas – One of, if not the biggest story for the Cowboys this season has been the emergence of George Pickens in their offense after trading a third-round pick to the Steelers for him in May.
Through 11 games with Dallas, Pickens is second in the league in receiving yards (1,054) and third in receiving touchdowns (8). That said, he's in the final year of his rookie contract and becomes a free agent after this season. Does Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones envision a scenario where Pickens plays anywhere other than Dallas in 2026?
"No, I do not at this time," Jones said on 105.3 The Fan Tuesday. "We've got two number one receivers and that's just exceptional right at the time, guess what? Our quarterback is probably the best that he's ever been. There's more there."
The more that is there around Dak Prescott is CeeDee Lamb, Javonte Williams, the rest of the wide receiver room, newly-extended Jake Ferguson and an offensive line that feature three first round picks.
All of them along with first-time head coach and play caller Brian Schottenheimer have led Dallas to the number one offense in the league, but it's no secret that Pickens has been a massive contributor to it. Jones is seeing his impact when he's making big plays, and when he's not, which is a big reason why he'd like him to stay in Dallas going forward.
"He's an outstanding, let me emphasize this again, outstanding teammate," Jones said. "He brings energy to the team even when he's not making some of those great receptions. Bottom line, it's working, and it's precious to have it here right at this time with what we're trying to do with Dak and how we're trying to maximize having him."
Just about a year and a half ago, the Cowboys signed Lamb to a four-year, $136 million extension, netting him an annual average salary of $34 million per year. With the way that Pickens is playing, he could end up commanding that or even more in contract extension talks.
When asked if he would feel comfortable with the dynamic of Pickens making more than Lamb, Jones did not want to discuss a hypothetical scenario.
"There's nothing that we can do, I know it's fun, but there's nothing that we can gain from speculating and conjecture," Jones said. "The bottom line is that we're in good shape, we built the trade so that we could have potentially our options, and of course, frankly, he's lived and is playing better than we could've even anticipated."
At the same time, there's been no one closer to Pickens on the team than his counterpart in CeeDee Lamb, who was clear that he doesn't want Pickens playing elsewhere in the future as well.
"I have the most confidence that we're going to keep him, and I'm sure that he wants to be here with how much fun he's having and everything he's accomplishing on the field," Lamb said last week. "So for us as his teammates, I feel like it's pretty clear: We want GP back."
Speaking of Lamb, after a few drops against the Eagles on Sunday, Jones was asked if there was any concerns with the All-Pro wide receiver. In his mind, there are not.
"I'm fine with him in any aspect," Jones said. "He's proven. Was proven when he got here with his great career at Oklahoma, but he's proven with what he's done since he's been here. Certainly, he's the first one to be frustrated over those drops that we're alluding to. But if there's ever been a player that you can look at the whole package, and you can go past those drops real easy when you look at what he's done."
The next chance both Lamb and Pickens will get to show what they can do comes on a short week, with the Kansas City Chiefs coming to town for the annual Thanksgiving game on Thursday.
