When it comes to a teammate’s contract situation, a player’s best play is to say nothing at all.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott recently opted for a different approach.
“George loves football,” Prescott recently said. “That’s the one thing about it. I just want him to know, don’t change your love for football. Don’t get in the business mind of this.
“He played last year on [the final year of his rookie deal], right? So, if you can go $30 [million], whatever it is now, that’s the same thing I got when I franchised. Hey, go do it. At the end of the day, bet on yourself. He’s a hell of a player. Hopefully, we can get him long term and sign that, but if not, I think the way he plays the game, and the person he is, he’ll be just fine.”
But that advice misses the point — in multiple ways.
First, the $27.298 million franchise tag for receivers falls ridiculously below the current $40 million market at the position. And that’s before Colts receiver Alec Pierce (who led the league in yards per catch for the past two seasons) gets paid on the open market, and before Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba gets his second contract in Seattle. Is the tag a lot more than the last year of Pickens’s slotted second-round rookie deal? Yes. Is that relevant? No.
Second, Prescott’s tag in 2020 was $31.4 million. At the time he signed, the top of the market was $35 million. Even after Patrick Mahomes signed a 10-year extension with a new-money average of $45 million per year, Prescott’s $31.4 million was seventh among all quarterbacks. Pre-free agency, Pickens ranks 13th.
Third, franchise quarterbacks will do several long-term deals. (Prescott has already signed two.) High-end receivers usually get one major contract during their careers. And the franchise tag delays that for Pickens, by a full year. Next year, the Cowboys can tag Pickens again, at the well-below-market value of $32.758 million. He may have to burn two more years of his prime at below-market rates before getting to the open market.
Fourth, a serious injury has a much bigger impact on a non-quarterback. During his franchise-tag year, Prescott suffered a compound ankle fracture. And that didn’t stop Prescott from getting a four-year, $160 million contract the following March. If a non-quarterback has that kind of injury, he’ll have to prove that he’s healthy before he’ll ever get paid significant money. (Case in point: Tyreek Hill has been available for more than two weeks, and there’s been barely a peep regarding potential interest in his services.)
So what should Prescott have said? How about something like this: “George is one of the best receivers in the NFL. He deserves every dollar he can get.”
Maybe Pickens won’t be bothered by the comments. Maybe he knows that the quarterback is by definition a company man. Maybe Dak has privately explained that to him. (Besides, it’s not like Dak went full-on Brett Favre, who actively campaigned against receiver Javon Walker getting a new contract in 2005.)
Still, it’s a minefield for any player to talk about another player’s contract. And it underscores the fact that the Cowboys and Pickens are now in a high-stakes game of chess, checkers, and chicken, with a deadline of July 15 to do a long-term deal.
Cowboys Clips
The Cowboys’ table-setting for the start of the 2026 league year included parting ways with a defensive lineman on Thursday.
The league’s daily transaction wire shows that they have waived Perrion Winfrey.
Winfrey signed with the Cowboys last June after playing in the UFL, but missed much of the season with a back injury. He returned to make one appearance and had two tackles.
Winfrey also played in 13 games for the Browns in 2022, but was released the next summer after being accused of threatening a woman with a gun. He played one game for the Jets in 2023 and had 25 tackles and a half-sack over those two stops.
The 49ers are adding an experienced defensive coach to their staff.
Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, Matt Eberflus is joining San Francisco as the club’s assistant head coach of defense.
Eberflus fills the role vacated by Gus Bradley, who followed former 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh to Tennessee.
Eberflus, 55, was the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator in 2025 after serving as Bears head coach from 2022-2024.
The 49ers hired Raheem Morris to be their defensive coordinator to replace Saleh.
Last week, running back Javonte Williams re-signed with the Cowboys. It’s been called a three-year, $24 million deal.
We’ve gotten more information about the contract. Here are the full details, per a source with knowledge of the terms.
1. Signing bonus: $6 million.
2. 2026 base salary: $1.75 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2026 per-game active roster bonus: $1 million, fully guaranteed but must be earned.
4. 2027 base salary: $6.25 million, fully guaranteed.
5. 2027 per-game active roster bonus: $1 million, fully guaranteed but must be earned.
6. 2028 base salary: $7 million.
7. 2028 per-game active roster bonus: $1 million.
The contract also includes de-escalators based on the failure to participate in the required percentage of offseason workouts. It’s a common term in Cowboys contracts.
While per-game roster bonuses typically are included in the calculation of base pay, $1 million per year is a large amount that is tied to being in uniform every week. For each game Williams misses over the next three years, he’ll lose $58,823.
It will be interesting to compare the Williams deal to the other running back contracts to come. Our guess? Some will be better, and some will be not as good.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones didn’t use the term “all in” this offseason, but he did say last week at the Scouting Combine that he was ready to “bust the budget,” while being “aggressive” in free agency.
Jones also wants to add players ready to play now.
Dak Prescott expressed excitement at the possibility of adding veteran defenders to a unit that set a team record for most points allowed in a season.
“Heck yeah, most definitely,” Prescott said Wednesday, via Tommy Yarrish of the team website, “especially when he said . . . no redshirts.
“We’ve got a coach [Brian Schottenheimer] in his second year. We had some ups and downs and shined some good moments last year. This is the year that you make a big jump, and getting big-time players who can help immediately is a part of that.”
The Cowboys are expected to pursue linebackers in free agency as they switch to the 3-4, and Nakobe Dean could be an early target. Cowboys new defensive coordinator Christian Parker was on the defensive staff in Philadelphia, where Dean played the past four seasons.
Coach Brian Schottenheimer said last week that the Cowboys want restricted free agent offensive linemen Brock Hoffman and T.J. Bass back with the team in 2026. They placed a second-round tender on Bass, who has started 10 games in his career, but they will have to reach a deal with Hoffman to retain him.
According to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report, the Cowboys do not plan to tender Hoffman, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Hoffman, 26, has started 14 games the past two seasons.
He has played center, left guard and right guard.
“Both of those guys are studs,” Schottenheimer said at the Scouting Combine when asked about Hoffman and Bass. “They’re glue pieces for us. They’re always prepared. They’re ready. Both of those guys could start for other teams in the league. We’re just very, very talented. Both of those guys coming back would be big for us.”
Dak Prescott is where George Pickens is now. The Cowboys quarterback played under the franchise tag in 2020, earning $31.409 million.
The Cowboys used the non-exclusive franchise tag on the Cowboys wide receiver, and he will play the 2026 season for $27.298 million unless the sides can reach terms on a long-term deal before July 15.
Prescott was asked on Wednesday what advice he would have for Pickens.
“Yeah, George loves football. That’s the one thing about it,” Prescott said, via Jon Machota of TheAthletic.com. “I just want him to know: Don’t change your love for football. Don’t get in the business mind of this.
“He played last year on [the final year of his rookie deal], right? So, if you can go $30 [million] whatever it is now, that’s the same thing I got when I franchised. Hey, go do it. At the end of the day, bet on yourself. He’s a hell of a player. Hopefully, we can get him long term and sign that, but if not, I think the way he plays the game, and the person he is, he’ll be just fine.”
Pickens wants to remain in Dallas on a long-term deal, but the Cowboys have a habit of dragging their feet on long-term deals. So, it remains to be seen whether the sides can reach an agreement or not.
The Cowboys are willing to make Brandon Aubrey the highest-paid kicker in the NFL, but they have stopped far short of the $10 million annual average he wants.
Aubrey and the Cowboys have discussed a contract extension for the kicker for months without an agreement. Last week, the Cowboys leaked that Aubrey was asking for $10 million per season.
Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News reported that the Cowboys had offered Aubrey $7.5 million, but later corrected his report. The number actually is less than $7 million, but more than the $6.4 million annual average of the league’s highest-paid kicker, Kansas City’s Harrison Butker.
The Cowboys will place a second-round tender on Aubrey, which would pay him $5.81 million, but it will allow him to seek a better deal. Dallas will hold a right-of-first refusal, receiving a second-round draft choice if it declines to match the offer.
“Obviously the tender is what the Cowboys have talked about, and it’s a good problem to have,” Aubrey said Wednesday, via Joseph Hoyt of the Dallas Morning News. “It’s a good amount of money, and it’s a big pay raise from before, but it’s not the ideal for any player. We’ll see what happens. I’m excited to be in this position. It’s an opportunity for me . . . so I’m thankful for that.”
Aubrey, 30, has made the Pro Bowl in all three of his seasons and has an NFL-record six field goals from 60 yards or longer. He has a career-long of 65 yards. He missed seven field goals in 2024 and six in 2025, with all but four of the misses coming from 50-plus yards.
He said he has thought about potentially leaving the Cowboys if he gets an offer the team won’t match.
“When you hit that restricted free agency, if you’re not testing the market, then you’re not doing what’s right for you and your family,” Aubrey said. “So you have to do that, if that’s what it comes to.”
The Cowboys have moved to hold onto cornerback Reddy Steward.
Steward’s agents Drew Rosenhaus and Oliver Chell announced that the Cowboys have tendered Steward as an exclusive rights free agent. Steward can’t negotiate with other clubs once the tender is in place, so he’ll be back to compete for time in the Dallas secondary once he signs his deal for 2026.
Steward spent time with the Bears and Vikings after going undrafted in 2024 and was claimed off of waivers by the Cowboys last August. He appeared in every game and recorded 63 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble in those appearances.
DaRon Bland, Shavon Revel, Trikweze Bridges, and Caelen Carson are also set to return as Cowboys corners in 2026.
The Cowboys have moved under the $301.2 million salary cap for the 2026 season by completing three contract restructures.
Shortly after word came that they restructured the deals of quarterback Dak Prescott and left tackle Tyler Smith, Todd Archer of ESPN.com reported that they have also restructured wide receiver CeeDee Lamb’s deal.
The three moves created around $66 million of cap space for the team without altering the overall compensation for any of the players. The remaining cap hits have moved into future seasons, which will likely leave the Cowboys with more cap maneuvering to do in the future.
Lamb is signed through the 2028 season with void years pushing the remaining cap hits beyond that point. He had 75 catches for 1,077 yards and three touchdowns in 14 games last season.
