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.
