When Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys traded for George Pickens in the 2025 offseason, it looked like a long-term fix for the offensive unit. However, the story has played out to be a little different, as the franchise seems hesitant to offer an extension to Pickens.

This has led to Cris Carter expressing his views on the franchise’s decision to even bring Pickens to Dallas.

“I think the model that they have, and because of their commitment to CeeDee Lamb already, they don’t believe long-term he’s going to be a better player than CeeDee Lamb,” Hall of Famer Cris Carter said on the Fully Loaded Podcast. “If not, they would have signed him and then maybe even try to shop CeeDee Lamb. But I think what CeeDee Lamb does on and off the field, he’s far more mature. Definitely a better leader. And when Pickens had this success, CeeDee Lamb was on the other side and Dak Prescott. So what Dallas is saying is, yeah, he’s good, but we produced it like that’s our quarterback, and CeeDee Lamb’s drawing a lot of coverage.

“Now, when CeeDee Lamb got hurt, what Pickens did, what he showed, was, man, I’m one of the top guys in this league. I deserve that money. Dallas should have never traded for him if they weren’t going to sign him to a long-term deal.”

George Pickens had a strong debut season with the Dallas Cowboys. While their offensive unit finished 2nd in total yards (391.9 per game), Pickens led the WR room. He caught 93 passes for 1,429 yards (3rd in the NFL last season after LA Rams’ Puka Nacua and Seattle Seahawks’ Jaxon Smith-Njigba). Even when Cowboys star receiver CeeDee Lamb was sidelined for three games, Pickens kept their offense alive.

Yet, when the discussion about a contract extension began to swirl after the breakout season, things didn’t go in favor of the 25-year-old playmaker. Jerry Jones and Dallas wanted Pickens with them for another season at least, but were hesitant to commit long-term capital ($30M–$35M annually that Pickens’ camp demanded).

Jones placed a $27.3 million non-exclusive franchise tag on Pickens. While players often hold out or refuse to sign the tag, Pickens officially signed the franchise tender in April 2026.

So, even if the intentions were not to keep George Pickens as a stopgap, the contract negotiations made it so, which former NFL star Cris Carter condemns. However, for Jerry Jones & Co., there could be another reason for placing a franchise tag on the 25-year-old WR.

Out of his four NFL seasons, Pickens has crossed the 1,000 receiving yards mark only twice (last season and in 2023 for the Steelers). To ensure that he could be a reliable asset like CeeDee Lamb, who has racked up 1,000+ receiving yards in five out of his six seasons with Dallas, Jones & Co. want to try out Pickens for another year before committing to a long-term deal.