Jerry and Stephen Jones certainly love their drama and showmanship. It also seems like every time the Dallas Cowboys enter a dispute with a player, contractual or otherwise, one of the Joneses loves to pull rank and remind the team, the league, and all who follow of who is in charge of America's Team.
Last offseason, it was Micah Parsons. This year, it is George Pickens. And the unfortunate reality of the situation is that, if or until Pickens signs a long-term extension with the Cowboys, this storyline isn't going away. Every game for him will be under a microscope. Every play will be subject to scrutiny.
And even the tactics or antics of the Joneses will be vulnerable to intense analysis until a firmer decision is made than a franchise tag. That includes criticism from former players like Michael Irvin, who is taking exception to how Dallas is handling the Pickens situation.
Irvin made a recent appearance on the DLLS Cowboys Podcast, and of course, the Pickens drama came up. The legendary wide receiver seemed to take exception to the comment that Stephen Jones made about how there were no talks ongoing about a long-term deal with Pickens.
"The only problem (and thing) I didn't like is I don't need you to say that there's no long-term deal in the works this year. I'm going to leave him hoping. That was a little flexing for me. You ain't gotta let everyone know your thoughts. ... Yeah, (it's a slap in the face). That's why I didn't need that (to be said). I didn't need it."
Michael Irvin doesn't like how Dallas Cowboys are handling George Pickens situation
In fairness to Irvin, he is right here. While fans appreciate transparency from the front office, to a certain extent, some things are just better left unsaid. That the Cowboys aren't engaging in any extension talks with Pickens is one of those things.
These comments can easily alienate a player and sour any kind of relationship. It effectively translates to "show us on the field this fall, end of discussion." And a player of Pickens' caliber, especially with the agent that he has, isn't likely to just go for that and say, "Oh, well!"
Pickens playing on the franchise tag and performing well is undoubtedly the best thing for the franchise. The Cowboys can get a relatively cheap year out of him in what is a contending window before having to face the music of a big contract next spring. It also gives Dallas a potential out.
But in the player empowerment era that we find ourselves in, the Joneses' archaic approach to contract negotiations might not serve them well. Irvin is well within his rights and absolutely correct to call this out.
Now, Irvin did shed some positive light on the situation and believes that the Cowboys will be able to overcome the drama. He effectively said later that Pickens should be grateful for how far he's come and that he shouldn't nickel-and-dime Dallas because $30 million per year is a great deal.
"Let's not look at this as, 'They don't want to pay me money. Let's look at this as, 'Last year, I had a team that didn't want to give me anything. They let me go.' Right now, [Pickens] got a team that's willing to say, 'I'll pay you $30 million right now. We'll do a $30 million per year deal right now.' That's not a bad deal when you look at where you stand and where you started. And he needed to see this and not let those people in this microphone and people speaking into this microphone inflate a number that we would have never been able to reach."
Again, Irvin is right. And some may say that this contradicts his earlier point about the way that the Cowboys are handling things, but they actually exist on separate planes. To finish off, Irvin provided a burst of positivity heading into the rest of the offseason and regular season.
"We may have a peaceful offseason that'll give us a peaceful preseason that can give us a real damn good season."
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