Cowboys owner/G.M. Jerry Jones is ready to risk creating issues with another key player, all in the name of getting a better deal.
Appearing Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Jones made it clear that he’ll be talking directly to receiver George Pickens, who is headed for free agency in March.
Asked whether Jones will negotiate directly with Pickens or with his agent, David Mulugheta, Jones said this (via the team’s official website): “I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes. Probably both, but I certainly expect to be speaking with George.”
Speaking directly with linebacker Micah Parsons last April sparked the problem that morphed into an August divorce. Jones believed Parsons had agreed to a verbal agreement. Parsons denied it, and he made it clear that Jones should speak to Mulugheta. Jones held firm to the idea that a deal was done. The situation escalated, with Parsons citing a back injury to remain out of practice and the Cowboys deciding not long before the start of the season to end the charade, with a trade.
And, yes, Parsons was also represented by Mulugheta. Along the way, Jones openly disrespected Mulugheta, with Jones suggesting he doesn’t even know who Mulugheta is.
Jones has surely learned about Mulugheta by now. Jones hasn’t learned that the Collective Bargaining Agreement delegates the NFL Players Association’s role as the exclusive representative of all players to certified agents who represent them individually. Jones has insisted, incorrectly, that it’s not a violation to deal directly with a player who has an NFLPA-certified agent. More accurately, Jones doesn’t care about the five-figure fine that the CBA imposes if/when the NFLPA decides to push it. (For the first violation, there’s no punishment at all.)
The question is whether Pickens will engage with Jones, if/when Jones tries to talk to him. The better approach for Pickens would be to refuse to talk, and to direct Jones to Mulugheta.
However it plays out, the Cowboys have a dilemma. If they don’t work out a long-term deal with Pickens, they’ll have to apply the franchise tag. That could prompt Pickens to exercise his right to skip all of training camp and the preseason, and to generally not be happy with the team’s decision to pay him the projected franchise tender of $28 million in 2026 — well below the current top-of-the-market rate of $40 million per year.
Ultimately, Jones will want to keep Pickens while paying him as little as possible. One way to get there is to bypass the agent. The other way is to use the franchise tag, forcing Pickens to earn his money a year at a time before getting the kind of contract he could currently attract if he were hitting the open market as an unrestricted free agent in March.
If that’s what the Cowboys do, get ready for Pickens to use any/all leverage available to him to get the contract that Jones will try his damnedest not to offer.