Jerry Jones addresses potential issue with George Pickens extension

Wide receiver George Pickens seems to be setting himself up for a nice payday while featuring for the Dallas Cowboys in a contract year. 

Pickens is represented by David Mulugheta, the same agent that Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones declined to directly negotiate with before Jones traded pass-rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers in late August. 

While speaking with reporters following Dallas' impressive 44-22 win over the Washington Commanders (3-4) that improved the Cowboys to 3-3-1 on Sunday, Jones insisted his previous dealings with Mulugheta won't impact future negotiations with Pickens.

Agent "almost had zero to do with" outcome of Micah Parsons-Cowboys saga

"Don’t pay any attention to that," Jones said about the Pickens-Mulugheta situation, per Joseph Hoyt of The Dallas Morning News. "At all. No attention to that at all. Too much was made of that, that the agent actually had something to do with the ultimate decision of where we were. It almost had zero to do with it. Period. And that’s not a negative. It just didn’t have that kind of influence. I was going to be where I was with Micah relative to dollars and cents. I don’t care who represented him."

The "dollars and cents" portion of the Parsons situation involved the 26-year-old receiving a four-year, $188M contract that included $136M guaranteed from the Packers. As for Pickens, he has emerged as a top weapon for Dallas after the Cowboys landed his services from the Pittsburgh Steelers in May. 

ESPN stats show that Pickens leads the Cowboys with 607 receiving yards and six touchdown receptions (tied with tight end Jake Ferguson) for the season. That said, No. 1 Dallas receiver CeeDee Lamb missed three games with a high ankle sprain before he torched the Commanders for 110 yards and a score on five catches.

Jerry Jones sounds eager to hold onto George Pickens

Pickens reportedly caused numerous headaches for the Steelers from 2022-24, and history could eventually repeat itself regarding his Dallas tenure. After seven games, however, Jones sounded eager to hold onto the 24-year-old beyond the expiration of his current deal. 

"That’s what happens when you have a talented player like that — that all of a sudden starts really working with confidence, with talented people around him," Jones added about Pickens. "You bet he’s, in my opinion — and you guys will have your own opinion, but in my opinion — he’s one of the best receivers there are, including with Lamb. You put him out there with [KaVontae Turpin] and you put him with two or three of those young ones and you’ve got a great receiving corps with our tight ends."

Pickens and Co. will next focus on preparing for an Oct. 26 matchup at the Denver Broncos (5-2). As of Monday afternoon, ESPN BET had Dallas as a 3.5-point underdog for that game.