00:01George Pickens was sniffing around during draft weekend.
00:05Jeremy Fowler, friend of the show.
00:07That is the word from Jeremy Fowler.
00:09So Jeremy Fowler had gone on SportsCenter on Sunday morning,
00:12and I was looking for this cut.
00:14I could not find it, but Bleacher Report.
00:15Bleacher Report's always the ones who, like,
00:17I think they have writers who sit up on Sunday morning
00:19because this is like the fourth time we've had something in recent weeks
00:21where it's like, oh, this is a significant thing that was said,
00:24and the only person who has it is Bleacher Report transcribing something
00:26at 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning.
00:28But this is what Jeremy Fowler had said about where George Pickens' situation is,
00:33why he decided to sign.
00:34He said,
00:34It's my understanding Pickens at least looked around,
00:37gauged his market, what a potential trade could look like
00:40if he could come to one with compensation and a new deal.
00:42He wants a long-term contract, so this isn't an ideal situation for him,
00:46but he signed the tag because it locked him into $27 million guaranteed.
00:50I'm told he really does like Dallas.
00:52He's been working with Dak Prescott this offseason.
00:54He's expecting to have another big year,
00:56but it sounds like he's going to have to do one more year
00:58to get that big payday down the road.
01:00So now that he's signed the tender, he's good with the Cowboys.
01:03They should move forward.
01:04I'm not expecting a trade or new deal at this point,
01:06but it was sticky there for a couple of weeks
01:08where he was trying to figure out what his market could look like
01:11because they wouldn't negotiate.
01:13Man, for these purposes right now,
01:18having him not go to another team and sign a contract,
01:24that stain from Pittsburgh is there.
01:27I mean, that thing set into the clothing.
01:30Yeah, because like you had said when they traded for him,
01:33he was probably, when Dallas brought him in here,
01:36was the most toxic player in the league.
01:38Yeah, that was the guy who, I mean, we've told this story before.
01:43Back in the draft a couple of years ago,
01:45the chatter was that Adonai Mitchell, A.D. Mitchell,
01:49went into his pre-draft meeting with the Steelers
01:52and within 30 seconds had said something like,
01:55oh, you guys got my boy George Pickens.
01:57I taught him everything I know.
01:58And they went, nope.
01:59They didn't say nope to it, but in their heads apparently
02:01they all went, nope, not drafting that guy.
02:03If he taught George Pickens everything,
02:04he knows he's not going to be here.
02:06So that's how you could blow a 30 visit
02:09or a combine interview in 30 seconds.
02:11But that, as good as he was last year,
02:14and I think the teammates generally really, really like him.
02:17I think a lot of the coaches like him.
02:19They find him to be a little bit of a pain at times,
02:21but they like him.
02:22But that is the kind of thing he's working against
02:25and what he's trying to undo.
02:27Brian Schottenheimer reacted publicly,
02:29Ford Center, the Star and Frisco over this past weekend
02:32to George officially signing the tag.
02:35Was not surprised he signed the tender.
02:37And the communication with GP along the whole offseason
02:42has been great.
02:43As you guys all know, this is voluntary.
02:45But again, I think at the end of the day,
02:49I am excited to see him when I see him.
02:52And I'm not sure when that's going to be.
02:54But I just know that he knows where he wants to get better and improve.
03:01And I think that I'm looking forward to seeing him backing around
03:05whenever he gets here.
03:07Now, look, I supported this move.
03:09Wait and see for one more year.
03:11But that's playing, you know, video games.
03:14Real life brings moods and hurt feelings.
03:20And Shottie was asked to follow up.
03:21Could no contract impact George's mood
03:26in your locker room for this upcoming season?
03:29I'm not going to speak for GP.
03:31I don't think, you know, the business side of it is the business side of it.
03:34You know, and so I know how much he loves football.
03:37I know how much he loves this football team.
03:40And I'm always going to say this about George because it's real.
03:44The influence that he has in that locker room is tremendous
03:48because of two things.
03:50The talent is incredible.
03:52But how much passion and joy he gets out of playing the game,
03:58guys feed off that.
03:59And so that's why I was asking.
04:00Because, you know, yeah, he's going to be here,
04:02but we're not negotiating with you.
04:03He wants a deal.
04:04We can all worry about that.
04:05Of course, yeah.
04:05So he's not getting what he wants.
04:07And do you have a sense that it can affect the passion,
04:11the joy that he brings to the table?
04:16Yeah, I don't believe so.
04:17I don't believe so.
04:18And, again, I think because George would play this game for a dollar
04:25as much as he loves football.
04:26I mean, he's played this game for, I don't think he was part of the NIL deal.
04:30Because George maybe was.
04:32Sorry, Kirby.
04:33Sorry, Kirby.
04:34But, no, yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:37No, we never did that in Florida.
04:39Obviously, you can look at our record and know we're not doing that in Florida.
04:42Yeah, yeah.
04:43Sorry, sorry, Gator Nation.
04:46You know what's interesting?
04:47And I'm not trying to get Micah's brother to light me up on Twitter.
04:51But all the natural comparisons.
04:53Jory Epstein came out with, like, a four-minute explanation why this is not the same.
04:56But there are natural comparisons, you know, of course, between Mulligueda and everything else.
05:01But, man, I never, I don't recall hearing them talk about Micah in the locker room,
05:08even to the degree they're talking about George.
05:11And you would think George is a much bigger problem child than Micah.
05:15And I just don't recall them talking about Micah with the leadership, the passion, or the energy amongst the other
05:22guys like this.
05:23Am I wrong?
05:24And I'm not trying to blow it up, Terrence.
05:26No, I don't think you're wrong.
05:28I'm just thinking of the parallel.
05:29I don't think you're wrong.
05:32I think it's, I think what Shadi said there is really interesting when he talks about, he said,
05:38I've said this before, and I say it because it's, you know, 100% true.
05:41But he has a lot of influence in that locker room.
05:45And this is not the same.
05:47He's not got the same sort of issues or anything else.
05:50But it just, it made me, it reminded me of 20 years ago where they would talk about T.O.
05:56the same.
05:57That they would say T.O.'s influence is really strong.
06:00Like, T.O. does get people to, there are a lot of people who don't like T.O.
06:04There are a lot of people who will follow T.O. and do a fire because he's just, he is
06:08a charismatic, really likable guy at times.
06:13And then when he's upset about something, a lot of times it's just people are going like, yeah, you know
06:17what?
06:17You make a good point.
06:18I'm upset about that, too.
06:19I wonder if that's why they're cracking down so hard on some of the things that we think are little.
06:24Like, I mean, I think are little, you think are little, or smaller issues.
06:27Like, all right, so he's not showing up to the bus on time.
06:29Is that the biggest deal in the world?
06:30But where they're like, yeah, if one guy doesn't show up to the bus, fine.
06:34If one of the guys who people naturally follow him isn't doing the stuff he needs to do, we've got
06:40a whole team now that's doing that.
06:41Like, did George make C.D. late?
06:43Would C.D. have done that?
06:45Right.
06:45That's 100% it.
06:46Like, it could be one of those things.
06:47So my kid's acting up a little bit, and we're like, you know, we're trying to figure out the base
06:52of the problem.
06:52He's not doing anything too bad.
06:54But we're like, is it this person?
06:56Is it that friend?
06:57You're trying to, what's the cause?
06:59Why all of a sudden this little minor shift?
07:01Yeah, and I think that's, when he's talking about the influence there, I think that is twofold.
07:06One, I think that's meant to be a compliment.
07:07Two, I think it is a little bit cautionary the way he says it, in terms of just like, he's
07:11got a lot of influence.
07:12And so I think they're also saying, you know, with great power comes great responsibility.
07:15That whole thing of just, we want him to be on the ball on top of things and doing what
07:19he needs to do so that other guys follow him.
Comments