Tom Pelissero: George Pickens Still Has Control Over Where He Could Be Traded

Tom Pelissero broke down the George Pickens situation on The Rich Eisen Show with the specificity that turns NFL transactions from rumor into math.

Rich teed it up in the show's signature format. What's more likely. Pickens plays the season on the franchise tender for the Cowboys, or he's signed it because Dallas is about to trade him?

Pelissero's answer leaned heavily toward the first option, but only after laying out the mechanics of why signing the tender at this stage actually expands Pickens's leverage rather than locking him in.

"By signing it, you have locked in," Pelissero said. "Your worst case scenario is you make $27.3 million for one season and then they're either tagging you again in 2027 for like $33 million or you hit the free agent market."

The more important wrinkle, Pelissero noted, is that signing the tender removes the Cowboys' ability to pull it. That option, while rare, has happened before. Pickens just shut that door.

Pelissero also flagged the agent on the other side of the table. David Mulugheta, who the Cowboys know well, has a history of his clients showing up. Pickens, in Pelissero's read, was always going to play. Sitting out and bleeding two million dollars a game was never the play.

The trade math is where it gets harder.

"Even if the Cowboys now work out a trade, Pickens still has control over where he goes," Pelissero said. "You'd want to work out a contract in advance. And if they can't work out a contract, it may well scuttle the trade."

Pelissero's bottom line. Pickens plays on the tender, most likely in Dallas. The Cowboys have already said publicly they're not doing a long-term deal. Pickens, like most players in his spot, would prefer one. The market for him being moved at the right price exists in theory and rarely materializes in practice.

Rich pushed for the market itself. Who would be in?

Pelissero went back twelve months to context the question. When the Steelers shopped Pickens a year ago, only one team made an offer. A single one. That's how the receiver ended up in Dallas for a third-round pick.

"People say, well, look at the season Pickens is having, how could the Steelers send him for a third round pick?" Pelissero said. "Because they didn't have another offer."

Pittsburgh was bringing in Aaron Rodgers and DK Metcalf. The receiver room math wasn't working. Pelissero said Pickens has the talent profile of a true difference-maker, but the market suppression has clear roots. The same discipline and punctuality questions that flagged him in Georgia followed him to Pittsburgh. He was suspended for a series last season alongside CeeDee Lamb in a game in Las Vegas.

"There were little drips that maybe things weren't entirely perfect," Pelissero said. "But again, he's a hell of a player."

The ceiling on what Dallas would accept also matters. Pelissero pointed to the Cowboys not moving Micah Parsons last year unless they got two first-round picks, which they ultimately did before sending him to Green Bay. With teams hoarding 2027 capital and money tight league-wide, the path to a deal that satisfies Dallas is narrow.

Never say never, Pelissero allowed. But the most likely outcome remains the simplest. Pickens in Dallas. Tender money. Football.