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Here’s where things get spicy. Cowboys insider Ed Werder dropped a bomb this week that should have every Dallas fan reaching for the antacids: The team hasn’t even started extension talks with Pickens or his people. Not a single conversation. Zip. Nada. Zero. We’re a week away from the trade deadline, and the silence is deafening. The franchise tag would run about $28 million, which sounds like a lot until you remember this is the same organization that just watched CeeDee Lamb command top dollar. When Lamb went down with an injury, who kept the offense humming? It was Pickens. History Being Made In Real Time Let’s talk about what Pickens has actually accomplished since arriving in Dallas, because it’s the kind of stuff that deserves its own section in the team’s record books. Back in Week 5 against the Jets, he became the first Cowboys receiver ever to snag five touchdown catches in his first five games. Then he went and tied Dez Bryant with six receiving touchdowns in six games while setting a new career high in the process. These aren’t just empty stats padded in garbage time. We’re talking about game-changing plays that have kept Dallas competitive when the defense has looked about as effective as a screen door on a submarine. The Puzzling Trade Chatter Now here’s where things get truly bewildering. Tim Cowlishaw from the Dallas Morning News floated the idea of trading Pickens at the deadline. Yeah, you read that right. Trading away a 26-year-old receiver who’s rewriting the franchise record books does not make sense. This is the kind of thinking that got Amari Cooper shipped to Cleveland for pocket change. Remember how well that worked out? The Cowboys have the cap space. They have a legitimate WR1 producing at an elite level. And someone’s suggesting they flip him for a few draft picks. That’s not just bad business. That’s Cowboys self-sabotage at its finest, and Lord knows this fanbase has seen enough of that to last a lifetime. What Happens Next The clock’s ticking for Jerry Jones. Either open up the checkbook and secure one of the league’s most productive receivers for the next four or five years, or watch him walk in free agency while the defense continues to struggle. Cowboys Nation deserves better than this uncertainty. Pickens has earned his payday. The question is whether Dallas has the sense to give it to him before another team does.
