Trading for George Pickens was going to be a gamble for whatever team agreed to take him off the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 24-year-old wide receiver is immensely talented, had put up some big numbers in Pittsburgh and shown flashes of a ceiling that was even higher.
He'd also been a constant chaos agent for the Steelers, creating social media controversy, drawing criticism for a lack of effort on crucial plays and clearly butting heads with head coach Mike Tomlin. The Dallas Cowboys, who are reportedly finalizing a deal today to acquire Pickens, can probably expect at least some rocky moments ahead. But, in a surprising twist, the personal history of Jerry Jones could make this even messier.
As ESPN's Adam Schefter reported, Jones has a less-than-stellar history with Pickens' agent.
Jerry Jones may have created another Micah Parsons situation
Parsons, the Cowboys' best player and defensive anchor, is overdue for a contract extension and negotiations between him and the Cowboys have gotten messy as they've dragged on unnecessarily long. The two sides are reportedly getting closer, but a deal isn't done yet, and a holdout is absolutely still on the table.
Pickens is also due for an extension, unless the Cowboys are willing to risk letting him walk at the end of the season. That's another complex extension that needs to be worked out and, as SportsDFW pointed out, bringing that into the mix before taking care of Parsons could be seen as a "slap in the face" by the defensive star:
"Instead, he's been ignored, and now the Cowboys are sending a clear message that they're not worried about his contract situation by adding yet another player to the list for an extension at the same time."
So, we have Jones stacking a potentially chaotic extension negotiation on top of another essential one that is already going badly, just a year after making a mess of a similar scenario with CeeDee Lamb. AND, Jones has personally antagonized the agent for both Parsons and Pickens in the past by saying he didn't know his name?
Pickens could be a game-changer for the Cowboys. He could also fracture their locker room in more ways than one and doom this season before it even starts. Say hello to the new Cowboys, same as the old Cowboys.