Maybe Dallas Cowboys fans should enjoy having CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens in the same offense while they still can.
“I don’t know of any teams that really can pay two top receivers top of the market [money], in order that’s going to be a extremely troublesome scenario as we transfer ahead,” Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said about Pickens’ future in Dallas in an interview on the DLLS Cowboys podcast on Monday.
“We have managed to determine how we will do it for this 12 months. If every little thing works out the best way we expect it’s, [in] which CeeDee and George each have large years once more, then it will be a much bigger problem subsequent 12 months.”
Coming off a breakout 2025 marketing campaign that noticed Pickens complete 93 receptions for 1,429 yards and 9 touchdowns — all three totals led the Cowboys and had been profession highs — and earn his first profession Professional Bowl, Dallas positioned the $27.3 million franchise tag on the now-fifth-year receiver in February, whom they acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers the offseason prior.
In the meantime, the Cowboys signed Lamb, a 2023 All-Professional and a Professional Bowler in every of the final 4 years, to a four-year, $136 million deal in Aug. 2024. Final season (2025), Lamb totaled 75 receptions for 1,077 yards and three touchdowns throughout 14 video games (he missed three video games on account of an ankle harm). From 2021-25, Lamb averaged 99.4 receptions for 1,296.2 yards and seven.2 touchdowns per 12 months.
Relating to the broad receiver market, Jaxon Smith-Njigba grew to become the highest-paid receiver in NFL historical past this offseason, inking a four-year, $168.6 million extension ($42.2 million common annual worth) with the Seattle Seahawks.
On the paying a number of broad receivers top-line cash entrance, the Cincinnati Bengals are paying roughly $69.1 million in wage to Ja’Marr Chase ($40.3 million AAV) and Tee Higgins ($28.8 million AAV), whereas the Detroit Lions are paying roughly $56.7 million in wage to Amon-Ra St. Brown ($30 million AAV) and Jameson Williams ($26.7 million AAV).
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Dallas is paying a mixed $61.3 million to Lamb and Pickens this season. For perspective, the Bengals have not made the playoffs since 2022, whereas the Cowboys have not reached the playoffs since 2023.
“George is basically wanting to place back-to-back years on high of each other, so it will assist his market,” Jones mentioned. “And positively, I do know in some unspecified time in the future, as does each participant on this league, he’ll need to be rewarded with a long-term contract. In order that actually places strain on us to have a novel scenario there at broad receiver.”
Dallas opens its 2026 common season on the highway towards the New York Giants on Sept. 13.
