Stephen A Smith Rips Jerry Jones 'Insulting' George Pickens, David Mulugheta Comments

Stephen A. Smith has never been one to hold back his feelings, and he let them all out when discussing recent comments from Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

Jones was discussing the future of George Pickens, who was given the franchise tag and has yet to sign. Pickens wants more security, and fans are concerned about a holdout, especially considering Pickens is represented by David Mulugheta, who also represented Micah Parsons last season.

Negotiations with Parsons broke down in a hurry and Jones blames Mulugheta. He made that clear once again when asked about Pickens, saying he doesn’t mind speaking with agents before taking a jab at Mulugheta with an uncomfortable analogy.

"Again, there's no issue with me with talking to agents. I need to do a better job of not getting, 'Well daddy said I could have it, and him going to Momma and Momma, saying daddy said l could have it,” Jones said via Tommy Yarrish of DallasCowboys.com.

Jerry Jones’ choice of words comes under fire

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones before a game against the Minnesota Vikings. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Jones believed he and Parsons had a deal in place last season before Mulugheta got involved. He made a similar quote last year as well, but this time it got under the skin of Stephen A. Smith. On ESPN’s First Take, Smith said he was bothered by the comments, saying they were insulting and made him uncomfortable.

“Just because you're the billionaire owner of the Dallas Cowboys don't mean that you can't receive some heat for the stuff that comes out of your mouth. You can't talk like that. You cannot do that. Having said all of that, you still, at the end of the day, if you're not going to negotiate with David Mulugheta, it also prompts another question. If you don't have a problem with agents, why does it appear as if David Mulugheta is the only agent that you're really, really not that interested in talking to? I haven't heard of any other players who've had a problem with their representation, having a conversation with the owner of the Dallas Cowboys. If I'm wrong there, I apologize, but I haven't heard about it,” Smith said.

"We've heard about it with Micah Parsons. Now we're hearing about it with George Pickens, two dudes represented by the same guy. Jerry Jones has some explaining to do in that regard. But when I talk to him, especially when I see him, that's a conversation that we're going to have because I don't like the way he didn't have to do that. He could have came up with a thousand different ways to make his point rather than doing it the way that he did it. It's very, very condescending, very insulting. And I'm telling you right now, black folks listening to that ain't going to take kindly to verbiage that Jerry Jones used."

"I'm very disturbed by what Jerry Jones said."@stephenasmith reacts to Jerry Jones' comments on George Pickens 😳 pic.twitter.com/69HMLzJe6b
— First Take (@FirstTake) April 1, 2026

Smith said multiple times during his rant that he likes Jones and that he doesn’t believe there was any malicious intent from the owner. That said, Smith rightfully stated that Jones could have, and should have, made his analogy another way.

Instead, he’s allowed his grudge with Mulugheta to cloud his judgment and Smith is making sure he hears about it.

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