Troy Aikman on Cowboys potentially re-signing George Pickens: ‘That would be a lot of money tied up at the wide receiver position’

Contract talks are going to, once again, be a talking point this offseason for the Dallas Cowboys. Another big-time player is set to enter free agency — George Pickens. After trading a third-round pick for the wide receiver, everyone is waiting to see if the Cowboys re-sign him.

Pickens is certainly making his case to get paid against the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football. And the topic came up in the commentary booth, with Joe Buck mentioning the upcoming free agency. Troy Aikman then admitted giving Pickens a contract, along with what CeeDee Lamb makes, is a lot of equity in the salary cap.

“It is going to be interesting to see what happens to him at the end of this year,” Aikman said. “That would be a lot of money tied up at the wide receiver position and, of course, what they’re paying Dak Prescott. But I know they’d like to keep him.”

Buck then brought up the Cincinnati Bengals, who did something similar recently. Quarterback Joe Burrow is on a big deal, as are wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Now, the Bengals hold one of the NFL’s worst defenses. Aikman then pointed how how the Bengals and Cowboys have been compared this season due to their poor defenses.

Prescott recently signed a four-year, $240 million contract to stay in Dallas. Lamb followed suit, making $136 million over the same period. Many do not project Pickens to receive the same as Lamb on an annual basis. But he should still wind up being one of the NFL’s highest-paid wide receivers.

So, the Cowboys have a decision to make on Pickens and how they want to work the salary cap moving forward. They did trade away a valuable pick for him, especially for a team prideful of their draft selections. To say the return has been worth it would be an understatement to this point.

“George Pickens’ 908 receiving yards are the most in the first 10 games of a player’s tenure in Cowboys franchise history,” Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram said via X.

There were times this season when Pickens was the No. 1 option for Dallas. Lamb went down with an ankle injury, causing Pickens to return to a role he played in Pittsburgh. Results were a lot better, helping him get off to the historic start. We either only get seven more games of him with a star on his helmet or many more years.