The Dallas Cowboys didn't shy from making deals in 2025, most notably shipping All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons to Green Bay just before the start of the season after failing to agree to an extension.
That trade is in the past now. Another negotiation looms involving another big-name acquisition from 2025: receiver George Pickens.
Owner Jerry Jones -- who attempted to circumvent Parsons' agent, David Mulugheta, in their negotiation process -- might be preparing to try the same approach with Pickens, who's also represented by Mulugheta.
"I don't know. We'll see how it goes," Jones said during his weekly radio appearance on 105.3 The Fan, via the team's official site. "Probably both, but I certainly expect to be speaking with George."
Pickens has proved to be essential to the Cowboys' offensive ambitions in 2025, posting a career-best 1,420 yards and nine touchdowns in 16 games with his new team. Pickens arrived as the ideal complement to star wideout CeeDee Lamb and made good on those hopes; depending on the week, either Pickens or Lamb became Dak Prescott's favorite target, and both will finish 2025 with 1,000-plus receiving yards.
In 2025, the Cowboys proved they were an offense-first team, a squad that relied heavily on the efforts of Prescott, who was just as dependent on the production provided by Lamb and Pickens. It would be a shame if Jones risked alienating another key contributor in the negotiation process.
Pickens and Parsons are not comparable players, at least not from an outside perspective. Parsons seemed to be the quintessential Cowboy, a player who should only wear one helmet for the duration of his career -- that is, until Jones stunned the football world by trading him to NFC rival Green Bay.
Pickens, on the other hand, is a mercurial receiver with a sky-high ceiling he only brushes against when he's focused on football. He did that more often than ever in 2025, but it didn't come without some typical drama that seems to follow him.
Jones will undoubtedly factor this into negotiations, but given where his team currently stands, he'd be foolish to let Pickens walk in free agency. In order to prevent that from happening, he might have to ditch his own usual process and dial Mulugheta. We'll see if the Parsons experience has informed him on how he should proceed, or if we're in for another drama-filled offseason with the Cowboys.