How much is Cowboys WR Pickens worth after Smith-Njigba mammoth deal?

The NFL has a new highest-paid receiver, after the Seattle Seahawks rewarded reigning offensive player of the year Jaxon Smith-Njigba with a mammoth contract. The soon-to-be fourth-year wideout has inked a whopping four-year, $168.6 million deal that averages $42.15 million a season, clearing the former top receiver Ja’Marr Chase by almost two million a season.

The new deal has been expected, and follows Seattle placing the fifth-year option on he and CB Devon Witherspoon on Friday. The team made it clear they were simply placeholders and new deals were being worked on. With the completion of the pact, there is sure to be ripple effects for the wideout market, which includes Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens, who is set to play 2026 on the franchise tag.

Cowboys current situation on offense

Pickens tag will pay him $27.3 million for the 2026 year, which will all appear on Dallas’ cap this season unless a long-term agreement is reached. The sides both seem to want the relationship to continue, but the Cowboys are notorious “deadlines make deals” negotiators, which allows the market to continously expand until they are ready to sit at the table.

So with the new Smith-Njigba deal, where does that place Pickens’ value in searching for a new deal, and are the Cowboys willing to go there?

Clearly listed on the rundown of highest-paid receivers is Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb, now fourth, at $34 million. There is a strong argument to be made over whether the Cowboys should have Pickens play on the tag, negotiate a long-term deal, or seek a trade with another club who would be willing to pay Pickens.

Dallas, with quarterback Dak Prescott far and away the highest-paid player in the league at $60 million per season, had a terrific offensive year last season with no help from a defense that rarely got off the field or forced turnovers. Perhaps the thought process is that he should be able to command a top offense without two highly-paid receivers.

But if they did want to work out a long-term deal with Pickens, where should that deal land now?

Projecting Pickens next contract

Way back in October 2025, Cowboys Wire predicted that Pickens deal should land him at around $31 million a year. Then, the franchise tag was looking to come in higher than it did, with $28 being the number. That meant a second tag would come in around $33.6 million, and that two-year control is normally the baseline for a long-term deal.

While the per-year cap hit from two tags is exorbitant, the cash cost is prohibitively in the Cowboys benefit. The franchise tag is based on a calcuation of the top-5 salaries across the previous five years, so it’s not going to match the market value, giving the team the upper hand in those negotiations.

But what about from the perspective of how good Pickens has been compared to Smith-Njigba?

Volume wise, there’s little comparison between the two. Pickens has 157 receptions over the last two seasons, while smith-Njigba has a stunning 236. Pickens has 13 TD grabs while Smith-Njigba has 18. But volume stats don’t tell a whole story, especially when considering that Pickens shared the field with a player of Lamb’s caliber this past season.

Looking at each player’s Pro Football Focus grades, how has Pickens comparitively performed?

Smith has still clearly been the better player, grading out as an 81.0 in 2024 and sky-rocketing to a 93.9 in 2025. Pickens graded out as a 78.6 in 2024 and an 85.9 in 2025. If one wanted to say Pickens was 97% the player Smith-Njigba was in 2024, then in 2025 that dropped to around 91.4% in 2025.

On a two-year basis, Smith-Njigba’s aggregate grade is 87.5 while Pickens is 82.3, or 94%.

94% of Smith-Njigba’s new deal would pay Pickens around $39.6 million a year.

There’s no way the Cowboys are coming anywhere close to that number. Does Pickens and his agent David Mulugheta believe there are teams he’d be willing to play for that would pay him that much AND give Dallas their draft-pick asking price?

We still believe Pickens’ trade value is around the 21st pick in the first round.

That’s the new question, along with what the floor of a new deal Pickens would accept.

The negotiation floor is likely $30.3 million based on the tag precedent. The ceiling of being “94% as good as Smith-Njigba” is $39.6 million. The median point of $34.95 million is an evolution that makes sense after paying Lamb $34 million two seasons ago.

But does that make sense for Dallas?

This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Does new deal for Smith-Njigba change what Cowboys’ Pickens will seek?