“I’m Waiting on Guys Like Puka Nacua”: Michael Irvin Decodes George Pickens’ Franchise Tag Decision

The Dallas Cowboys have officially franchise-tagged George Pickens. Well, it had to come after the wide receiver’s career-high numbers in both receiving yards and touchdowns in his first season with the team. However, given Pickens’ sheer production in 2025, many are wondering why they opted to tag him rather than offer him an outright extension.

Some are attributing it to the greed of Jerry Jones. Others have pointed out that the Cowboys have the least amount of cap space of any team in the league, and so offering more money to Pickens was not an option.

However, according to the team’s former wide receiver, Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, it could have more to do with Pickens attempting to time the market. “I don’t know if George wants to get a deal done right now,” Irvin mused during the latest episode of his podcast.

“If I’m him, I’m waiting on guys like Puka Nacua, who’s working on a new deal too. That’s going to raise the level. When that franchise tag got placed, officially, it gave us a whole new round of stuff to stir,” he added.

Many false reports have already circulated this offseason about the Cowboys, the majority of them being on the team’s negotiations involving players like Pickens and Brandon Aubrey. According to Irvin, that’s a series of chess moves that are all aimed at getting the owner of the team, Jerry Jones, to close his heart and thus his wallet as well.

“Here comes the spoon of bull s**t,” Irvin exclaimed. “They are trying to stir it all up… That’s what they do now, to try and get under Jerry’s skin, so he can harden his heart and not get anything done. So, let the games begin.”

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Dallas is planning to restructure the deals of Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Tyler Smith in the coming weeks. Those deals are expected to create roughly $66 million in cap space, allowing Jones to realize his vision of the team becoming “big spenders” later this offseason.

Of course, that’s always easier said than done, especially while doing business with an owner and general manager who has, at times, refused to talk with his players’ agents and representatives. For better or worse, however, that’s how things tend to get done in Jerry World.

So, unless you’re a sucker for offseason drama, you may want to look away. This tends to be the time of year when things are only beginning to heat up for both Jones and the Cowboys.