The Dallas Cowboys made some headlines immediately after the opening kick of their lopsided victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football as star wide receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens were benched for the opening series due to a coaching decision.
While being benched for a single series doesn't seem like much of a message to send any player, let alone two of your biggest offensive stars, the work that Lamb and Pickens, in particular, put in on the field overshadowed whatever Brian Schottenheimer was aiming to accomplish with his choice of punishment.
As entertaining as it was to see the former Georgia Bulldogs standout make the Raiders' secondary look like Swiss cheese by recording 9 receptions on 11 targets for 144 receiving yards and a touchdown in the 33-16 win, Pickens' breakout performance could be bad news for Dallas in the long run.
Impending Free Agent George Pickens is Pricing Himself Out of Dallas
The Cowboys knew that Pickens would be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2025 campaign when they traded a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick for him. The fact that they would have to negotiate a new contract with him at some point is no surprise to the front office. What could be a bit of a surprise for them now, however, is just how much the starting point in any negotiations will be.
It is not the end-all be-all when it comes to evaluating the worth of a player's next contract, but Spotrac's projected average annual value for Pickens' next deal could be outside of the range Jerry Jones is willing to spend. Per Spotrac, Pickens has a market value of just over $29.3 million in terms of average annual value on his next contract. With Lamb set to have a cap hit of $38.6 million in the 2026 season, committing that much money to a pair of wide receivers doesn't seem like a sound financial strategy.
This puts pressure on Jones and the front office to do their best to get a new contract done as quickly as possible, something that isn't their forte if the Micah Parsons experiment is any indication. That might be the only avenue Dallas has to retaining Pickens beyond what has been a disappointing 2025 campaign.
If Pickens plays out the remainder of the season before engaging in any further contract talks, something I would imagine his representation is encouraging him to do. There is a real possibility the Cowboys surrendered two future mid-round draft picks for a player who earned himself a major payday but didn't help Dallas to a playoff berth.