For many NFL wide receivers, it would be one of the best highlights of their career. It’s middle of the pack at best for George Pickens.

Midway through the first quarter last Sunday in Charlotte, Pickens hauled in a leaping grab across the middle over one diving defender, ran 10 yards and leaped over another diving defender. What probably should have been a 15-yard gain quickly turned into a 31-yard play.

“Out of all of the plays I’ve made in my life, it’s not dead last, but definitely in the middle somewhere,” Pickens said. “Just because I’ve done crazier stuff as far as practice, games. I’m pretty sure everybody has seen the catch when I was with the Steelers. I’ve just done wilder things, to me. And I feel like the play on Sunday is kind of wild to everybody else.”

“The catch” Pickens was referring to happened against the Cleveland Browns in the third game of his 2022 rookie season. That’s the one that surprised him the most.

On that play, Pickens reached back and snagged a Mitchell Trubisky pass along the sideline as he was falling backwards. Pickens needed only his right hand to complete the play with his body parallel to the ground.

At only 24 years old, there appears to be a lot more highlights ahead for the star wide receiver. But playing under the final year of his rookie contract, will that future remain in Dallas?

“I wouldn’t mind it,” Pickens said. “The guys in the locker room are super cool, the energy is great. I always want to showcase my talents.”

Although he declined to get into specifics about a future contract, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones spoke highly of Pickens on Tuesday.

“As you know, even that has a competition to it, the very aspect of it,” Jones said when asked about starting contract extension talks with Pickens. “He is doing more than we did expect or that we could have expected. What’s really special is he’s a real plus to have around the team. He’s a real plus around his teammates, he’s a great plus around those coaches. Those coaches really think highly of him. He’s not only doing it on the field but he’s doing it as a part of the team concept. That’s very important in his particular case and it should be noted.

“We’ll weigh that. We knew full well that if things really went like we want them to go that certainly we need to think about having some (salary cap) room available if we’re going to pay a second receiver at that level.”

The Cowboys can make a Pickens contract work, especially after not re-signing Micah Parsons. Several teams pay two wide receivers near the top of the market, including the Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins.

Pickens has the same agent, David Mulugheta, as Parsons. Just because a deal didn’t work out with one player doesn’t mean it can’t with another. If Pickens continues to perform like he has through the first third of the season, it’s difficult to envision that Jones would let him walk next March, which could involve the Cowboys using the franchise tag on the wide receiver.

“There’s nothing personal here,” Mulugheta said last month on ESPN’s “First Take.” “It’s a business transaction as far as the contract is concerned. So if George Pickens does what we expect him to do, which is be one of the best receivers in the NFL this year, we’ll have those conversations with the Cowboys. And if they’re open to having that dialogue with us, and negotiating a long-term deal, then we’d love for George Pickens to be a star with a star on his helmet.

“But if that’s not the case, then obviously we’ll see what else is out there for him. But again, this is not going to affect any negotiations moving forward for us.”

What’s most important to Pickens in regards to his NFL future?

“Definitely winning,” he said. “Just because that’s been my resumé the whole time. I won in high school, I won at Georgia. Definitely winning, I always think about winning.”

Despite the Cowboys having one of the NFL’s best offenses, if they can’t get their defense figured out, there might not be much more winning this season.

Pickens had his best game as a Cowboy on Sunday, catching nine of his 11 targets for 168 yards and a touchdown. It’s the most receptions and second-most yards he’s had in his career. He has now gone five consecutive games with a touchdown and his six receiving touchdowns are tied for the league lead. His seven receptions of 25-plus yards are tied for second in the NFL. His 525 receiving yards are third. A lot of credit also goes to Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who has been at the top of his game this season and is the best quarterback the fourth-year wide receiver has played with.

Pickens has proven he can carry the load as Dallas’ No. 1 wide receiver as that’s the role he’s been playing the last three games with CeeDee Lamb out with a high ankle sprain. Lamb is expected to return Sunday. He was a limited participant in his return to practice Wednesday. The last three games, Pickens had been moved around more, similar to how the Cowboys have used Lamb in the No. 1 spot. Look for Pickens to continue to get opportunities in that role even with Lamb back.

“It took George a little while for us to be able to move him around,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “The one thing that George has proven over these last couple weeks is our ability to move him around, which makes us more difficult to defend. Because really CeeDee was the guy we were trying to move around and George was kind of one spot. But George has been terrific with us, putting him in different spots, different positions. And I think he kind of likes it because it holds his attention and keeps him dialed in. I think it’s a great thing. There’s one ball, we know that. They’re both really good players. So we’ll see where the defense makes the ball go.”

Pickens said he’s “super excited” about not only Lamb returning but also wide receiver KaVontae Turpin, who has missed the last two games with a foot injury. Pickens said he sees the possibilities of a “way more dangerous” and “way more explosive” offense.

It’s difficult to believe that a defense that has struggled so badly through the first six games is going to get significantly better in the upcoming weeks without some notable roster additions. Whether those come or not, Dallas’ success likely depends on Prescott, Lamb, Pickens and the rest of the offense.

“I’m definitely in the middle of the season, so I’m not fully, fully thinking about it,” Pickens said of his contract situation. “I kinda just want to keep going and see how far we can get this season as far as playoffs and stuff like that. Definitely want to keep on improving.”

There are a lot of offseason moves the Cowboys made that can be questioned. Trading a 2026 third-round pick and 2027 seventh-round pick for Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round pick was not one of them. It appears to have been a brilliant decision, a move that has the potential of being one of their best of the last decade.