Over and over again, across all of professional sports, the teams that end up winning championships are the ones who make the boldest moves to sign or trade for the very best players.
For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, that’s meant home grown talent in recent years, with record-setting contracts for a pair of NFL All-Pros in safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and left offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs in 2024.
In 2026, they’ll be one of a handful of teams with the means — and talent already in place — to sign a player who could be a difference maker on an entirely different level with Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens.
After 3 tumultuous seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pickens has looked like the NFL’s best wide receiver at times this season and could be a free agent following this season if the Cowboys don’t hit him with their exclusive franchise tag.
Pickens is currently second in the NFL in receiving with 67 receptions for 1,054 yards and 8 touchdowns through 11 games. He could be seeking a deal in the range of $30 million per year in terms of average annual salary.
“My sense is Pickens will be looking for a massive payday,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote on Wednesday, November 26. “Recent high-end free agency deals for top receivers such as Calvin Ridley and Chris Godwin Jr. came in at around $23 million per year, which Pickens should easily exceed barring a surprise.”
Pickens Comes With Buyer Beware Warning
Signing Pickens has the kind of upside that could end with the Buccaneers hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy and the kind of downside that ends with people losing their jobs because Pickens, in case you didn’t know, can be a bit of a wild card.
In 4 seasons, Pickens has been fined a staggering 15 times by the NFL for a variety of offenses including taunting, fighting, making an obscene gesture and even once when he wrote “OPEN (EXPLETIVE) ALWAYS” on his eye tape against the Cowboys in 2024.
It’s behavior that prompted Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin to publicly tell Pickens he needed to “Grow Up” late in the 2024 season.
Somehow, Pickens made things worse after that when he showed up over 30 minutes late to the stadium before the Steelers’ Christmas Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs in 2024.
All oof that led to the Steelers deciding to trade for Seattle Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf, sign him to a 4-year, $132 million contract extension and trade Pickens to the Cowboys in exchange for a third round pick in May.
Veteran Buccaneers WRs Holding Team Back
The Buccaneers getting Pickens would probably be contingent on saying goodbye to legendary wide receiver Mike Evans, who is in the final season of a 2-year, $52 million contract but has struggled with injuries. He’s currently recovering from a broken collarbone and could very well be out for the rest of the regular season — a scenario in which he would have missed 16 games over the last 2 seasons.
Godwin has played and produced even less. The Buccaneers signed him to a 3-year, $66 million contract in March but he’s missed 8 games so far this season and only has 8 receptions for 61 yards and no touchdowns in the 3 games he has played in.
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