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Mailbag: Rather have the picks or players?

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(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)

George Pickens can be signed away if the Cowboys choose not to match, and the team would get two first-round picks. Brandon Aubrey and T.J. Bass are also tendered for second-round picks. So would you rather have the players or the picks this year? – Matt McGinnis/Hugo, MN

Mickey: I want my cake and eat it, too, meaning I want my players but at my salary cap price, which is incentive to negotiate a long-term deal before someone else negotiates for me on one of those offer sheets. Look, I know what my player is, I got no guarantee what those picks will produce, why my preference is keeping the player over receiving draft choices in return. But, if some team signs the player to an outrageous offer sheet since they have an excess of cap space, maybe I can't have my way. They say money can't buy happiness, and in these cases, money can't buy success, if that happens to be important to you. Also, in some of these contract agreements, don't get carried away with the total package number agents produce. Just tell me how much the guarantee is.

Tommy: In the Cowboys' situation going into 2026, the players, while taking advantage of the high-pick draft capital that you have. Dallas feels that they're in a window to win over the course of the next few years, and if that's the case, you can't necessarily wait on a rookie that needs three years to develop because it hinders your chances at capitalizing on that window. Still though, those early picks give you the best chance at a player at a position of need you didn't add as much through free agency to come in and play meaningful downs for you. If you can find ways to add proven players who will help your team, whether it be through free agency or via trade, I believe that's your best avenue to reaching that goal, but there still needs to be an element of some sort of adding high-level young players on cheaper deals. Now, you have to be very selective in who you go and acquire, especially since fit is so crucial. Signing or trading for the biggest name on the market doesn't mean anything if they're not in a position to succeed within the scheme.

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