George Pickens has been shouldering the responsibilities of the No. 1 receiver for the Cowboys since CeeDee Lamb suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 3. So far in 4 games, Pickens has 21 receptions for 300 yards and 4 touchdowns. And his value is on the rise.

During the October 3 episode of the Cowboys and Chill show, former WR Patrick Crayton made a huge prediction. He first gave Pickens a timeline: “He’s got another what three weeks before CeeDee comes back? This is when he making his money.” He then went on to speculate exactly how much Pickens could fetch for his services.

“You got a chance to go from that 20 to 25. You can earn another 5 million per year in these next three weeks man,” he added.

His best year was 2023, when he logged 63 receptions for 1,140 yards and 5 touchdowns. If he carries on the same path, he could easily go past that.

Even Jerry Jones praised the receiver after he finished the 40-40 tie with the Packers with 8 receptions for 134 yards and two TDs. “He’s an exemplary teammate. He’s exemplary in his work preparation. You can see the results of that out there Sunday,” Jones said. So the appreciation is there, and a big deal next year wouldn’t exactly be a surprise. In fact, Law Thomas of Law Nation Sports is already smelling a potential move from Jerry Jones’ end.

“Jerry still holds the right, though. He can franchise tag him,” Thomas speculated. That might happen as George Pickens’ $6.75 million deal will end this year. And if Jones uses the franchise tag, then Pickens is almost certain to get $30 million.

“When you get a franchise, a little cap from day one at $35 million takes everything because it’s one year, $35-30 million,” explained Cowboys insider Clarence Hill when Crayton sounded confused as to how big a cap hit that would be for Jerry Jones’ team.

But everything depends on one factor now. His performance until CeeDee Lamb returns. Meanwhile, Jones is happy with his financial standing.

Jerry Jones has cap space after Micah Parsons trade

During the entire offseason, Micah Parsons and Jerry Jones kept talking. But ultimately, Jones allowed Parsons to sign a record-breaking deal with the Packers. It affected their defense, but now, it has also cleared the cap space. The Cowboys are 2nd in the cap space in the league with $32.5 million after not signing an extension with the defensive star.

“I’m proud to tell you that we’ve got some outstanding structure in our cap space that will allow us to do a lot of things that I didn’t think (we could) at this time last year. … We got it. We paid a price for it. … We can do it now,” he said last month on 105.3 The Fan. Yet, in his signature style and admitting his. Fans can breathe easy.

The Cowboys entered the Week 4 game with a 1-2 win-loss record. While the DE was mostly silent in the game, he did sack Dak Prescott in overtime as both teams scored field goals to tie the game.

Now, America’s Team needs more wins. Otherwise, they will complete 3 decades without a Super Bowl trophy or any NFC Championship appearance.