George Pickens and his impending contract saga are poised to capture our attention. But which way will it go?
Dallas Cowboys George Pickens had the exact career resurgence the Cowboys' front office hoped for when it traded for him last offseason.
Seen as a huge risk by many, yet those same people wanted Dallas to get CeeDee Lamb a running mate (go figure), George was sensational.
There's no other way around it. Well, for the most part.
Pickens came to The Star with a reputation that was either going to make or break his time in Dallas. ... While maybe also pushing the boundaries of Brian Schottenheimer's "culture shift."
But the only thing Pickens did was eat defenses alive in 2025.
In 17 games, George posted 1,429 yards and 9 TDs from 93 receptions. All career-highs.
Is that good? It seems good.
And yes, there were some mistakes, both on and off the field, but for the majority of the season, Pickens was a model citizen.
Now, attention turns to his contract status. Set to be a free agent, the consensus is that Dallas, per our own Mike Fisher, will franchise tag him at roughly $28 million APY.
And what is perhaps the ultimate feather in George's cap, PFF's Bradley Locker has named Pickens as the best free agent available this offseason.
"The preliminary results for Dallas’ acquisition of Pickens were everything the team could have desired — and more," Locker wrote. "The former Steelers standout ranked sixth among qualified receivers in PFF receiving grade (87.2) with 2.35 yards per route run.
"On top of that, Pickens averaged 5.1 yards after the catch per reception, which placed as a 79th-percentile figure. The 24-year-old profiles as one of the best free agents in this upcoming cycle."
Prior to his move to Dallas, Pickens was seen purely as an outside weapon.
Being able to get downfield and make contested catches was his calling card.
But under Schottenheimer, George developed another trait. The slant.
For a month straight, defenses were powerless to stop it, most notably the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, as Pickens torched them for 146 and 88 yards, respectively.
When the slant was taken away, Dak Prescott's go-ball heated up, as evidenced by Pickens' 15.4 yards per reception, his fourth straight season averaging at least 15 yards per catch.
Putting it simply, at times, Pickens was unstoppable and was the ultimate foil to CeeDee Lamb, who also surpassed 1,000 receiving yards.
And all of that leads Pickens to be one of the most sought-after free agents this offseason.
There's no buyer-beware anymore.