“He Said Way Too Much”: NFL Veteran Wants Dak Prescott to Mind His Business When It Comes to George Pickens Deal

The Dallas Cowboys, who have been trying to work out a long-term deal with George Pickens, decided to franchise-tag him even as the negotiations continue. It is a $27.2 million placeholder that the receiver will earn. And Dak Prescott is excited for his teammate so much so that the QB offered Pickens advice on what he should do next.

Dak, after all, has experience with it as he went through the franchise tag process in 2020 before earning a massive 4-year, $160 million extension in 2021. He then signed another 4-year extension worth $240 million in 2024. Prescott bet on himself and proved that he was worth the money.

Prescott shared that approach, which worked for him, with Pickens, asking the wide receiver to focus on football and not get caught up in the business side of things. “George loves football. 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,” Prescott advised Pickens via DallasCowboys.com.

“You played last year on a one-year [deal] for not even that much, right? So, if you can go $30 [million] or whatever it is now, I think it’s the same thing I got when I was franchised, hey, go do it,” he added, suggesting that if Pickens plays well next season, the money will come.

The figure Prescott mentioned is around the same as the quarterback earned when he was franchise-tagged in 2020 for $31.4 million. Nowadays, the amount for QBs has jumped to $44 million thanks to salary cap bumps. It’s a hefty amount that entices players to stick around for a season while negotiating a longer deal.

However, not every player is always okay with this process. We’re thinking of you, Le’Veon Bell.

Regardless, there were a lot of details that Prescott got into while talking about his teammate’s contract. He certainly cares about getting Pickens back on the team. After all, he put up 1,429 receiving yards, good for third in the NFL, and at times looked like the Cowboys’ best weapon. But did Dak reveal too much?

While reacting to what Prescott said, former receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh expressed his disapproval. “I wish Dak would’ve minded his business with this,” TJ said on the Speakeasy podcast.

“He said way too much. Like, normally, does he really get this in-depth with his answers? Not really. So now, why do you really want to go in-depth when it pertains to me, boy? Mind your business. Like, you always do, you always say the right things. You can’t say the right things now?” asked the former wideout.

It was a strong reaction from TJ. As a former receiver, he perhaps felt the need to stand up for Pickens and placed himself directly in his shoes while speaking.

But then, Dak was simply trying to advise a teammate from experience. It’s really not that big of a deal. In fact, as a QB and leader of the team, we would expect him to say something like this.

Maybe going through the media was unnecessary. But in this day and age, everyone wants the opinion of the players, and that’s exactly what Prescott gave. In fact, he offered more.

“Things are gonna come up, things aren’t gonna sit right [with you].
You’re gonna feel slighted when they [offer] you a million or two less than whatever you said, and that’s just the business,” said Prescott.

Moving forward, it’ll be interesting to see if the Cowboys can lock up Pickens long-term. Dak sounds like he’s itching to get back on the field alongside him. Let’s see if Jerry Jones and the front office can make enough cap space to secure his services.

Dallas was one of the most potent offenses in the NFL last year, with Dak, Pickens, CeeDee Lamb, and Javonte Williams leading the charge.