The Cowboys’ star receiver already signed his franchise tender. Plus, what the Caleb Williams Madden cover could mean for the Bears and more.
Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens has not participated in the team's offseason program despite signing his franchise tag. | Scott Kinser-Imagn ImagesCowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said he expects star receiver George Pickens, franchised by the team back in March, to be at the team’s June 16-18 mandatory minicamp, and, honestly, it’d make no sense if he wasn’t.
Why? Pickens signed his franchise tender in late April and has skipped the team’s entire offseason program. If he’d planned to miss the minicamp to make a statement, the common-sense route to take would have been to not sign the tender until after the minicamp was complete, because then, Pickens wouldn’t be subject to fines for missing it.
Minicamp fines Since minicamps are getting going this week, here is the CBA-prescribed fine schedule for this year for missing the mandatory sessions:Notable to me: The positive reviews that Jaylen Waddle is getting for his route running in his first offseason in Denver. It’s not a big surprise, given that he worked in Mike McDaniel’s detail-oriented offense for four years.
But it’s relevant, given how physically gifted Waddle is, and what Sean Payton should be able to do with a guy like that—think of what Brandin Cooks looked like early in his career under the Broncos’ coach. Does Caleb Williams being on the Madden cover mean much for the Bears football-wise?
Not on its face, though I’d say it does signify how the dynamic will change for Ben Johnson’s crew, now that the magical ride of 2025 is over, and real expectations are setting in. You can ask the 2025 Commanders about the burden that can bring. We mentioned it in the Takeaways—you can mark Christian Watson’s new deal as one that isn’t quite what it was advertised to be.
Yes, it’s worth “up to” $110.5 million over four years, in addition to what was left on the final year of his old deal. But $18.5 million of that over the next five years is tied up in incentives related to Pro Bowls, catches, receiving yards and touchdowns. The base value of the deal: $97.5 million over the next five years.
The Brandon Aiyuk situation is one of the weirder ones I’ve encountered over more than two decades covering the NFL. Remember, just two years ago, the Patriots and Steelers made big offers for him. Pittsburgh offered second- and third-round picks, New England offered the same deal, plus receiver Kendrick Bourne, and each team was willing to give him a top-of-the-market deal. He chose to stay in San Francisco and take the 49ers’ contract offer.
Fair to say now, they wish he hadn’t. Receivers and running backs are paid differently, but it’ll be interesting to see the effect that Drake London’s deal, with a new-money, per-year average of $35.25 million, has on the Bijan Robinson negotiation. There’s very little question, as good as London is, who the more valuable player to the Falcons has been.
I feel like the Derick Hall extension in Seattle reflects a player who knows how good he has it with the Super Bowl champs. Hall, I believe, was more valuable to the Seahawks last year than Boye Mafe, who got $20 million per year in Cincinnati. Seattle’s keeping Hall at an average of $14 million per year.
Good to see Denzel Ward showing a desire to stay in his native Northeast Ohio, and with the Browns, who drafted him out of Ohio State eight years ago. Ward figures to be a pretty important piece, leadership-wise, for what will be one of the NFL’s youngest teams. And, finally, a lot of people have asked me if June 1 is the new tentpole in the NFL calendar after the Myles Garrett and A.J. Brown trades.
My answer: Only if more teams have cap issues that they have to wiggle out of in off-loading big stars, which seems like it’d be less likely with how the cap is rising on an annual basis now. Albert Breer is a senior writer covering the NFL for Sports Illustrated, delivering the biggest stories and breaking news from across the league. He has been on the NFL beat since 2005 and joined SI in 2016.
Breer began his career covering the New England Patriots for the MetroWest Daily News and the Boston Herald from 2005 to ’07, then covered the Dallas Cowboys for the Dallas Morning News from 2007 to ’08. He worked for The Sporting News from 2008 to ’09 before returning to Massachusetts as The Boston Globe’s national NFL writer in 2009. From 2010 to 2016, Breer served as a national reporter for NFL Network.
In addition to his work at Sports Illustrated, Breer regularly appears on NBC Sports Boston, 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston, FS1 with Colin Cowherd, The Rich Eisen Show and The Dan Patrick Show. A 2002 graduate of Ohio State, Breer lives near Boston with his wife, a cardiac ICU nurse at Boston Children’s Hospital, and their three children.
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