Time still remained for the Cowboys to place the franchise tag on wideout George Pickens. Nevertheless, Friday has proven to be the day for the tender’s application. 
Pickens has officially been tagged, per a team announcement. A number of reports from Friday morning pointed to today being the point at which the move would take place. Dallas has taken the expected route of the non-exclusive franchise tag in this case, ESPN’s Todd Archer reports.
“My relationship with GP doesn’t change,” head coach Brian Schottenheimer said about Pickens when speaking about the looming tag application. “Just like it didn’t change with CeeDee [Lamb] or Dak [Prescott] when those guys were going through certain things. It’s all part of the process. It’s the business side of it… This is going to play out the way it’s supposed to play out.”
The receiver tag is worth $27.298MM in 2026, the league announced Friday. Although Dallas is an estimated $56MM over the salary cap (per OverTheCap), the team has long been willing to apply the tag to keep Pickens off the market with free agency approaching. Pickens is free to speak with interested teams given the nature of the tag used in this case, but the chances of an outside suitor working out a deal and parting with two first-round picks to facilitate it are extremely low. Attention will instead turn to the matter of contract talks between the Cowboys and their productive 2025 trade acquisition.
As Archer notes, Pickens and his camp were informed of the tag decision yesterday. He adds that “general” conversations took place between the Cowboys and Pickens’ representatives at the ongoing NFL Combine. Progress with respect to detailed negotiations will be worth watching for as this situation unfolds. If no long-term agreement can be reached by July 15, Pickens will be required to play on the tag next season. He may sit out if a deal does not come together, according to Clarence Hill Jr. of All City DLLS.
The Cowboys already have huge money tied up in Lamb, whom they signed to a four-year, $136MM extension in 2024. Lamb ranks third at his position in value, AAV and guarantees ($100MM). He has a better overall track record than Pickens, but with the cap continuing to rise, the latter might be in line for a similar contract. Executives across the league are expecting at least $30MM per year for Pickens, Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports reports. There is even a possibility the soon-to-be 25-year-old Pickens’ next pact will surpass Lamb’s.
The Cowboys acquired Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round pick from the Steelers for a 2026 third-rounder and a ’27 fifth-rounder last spring. At that point, Pickens had established himself as a good (far from elite) receiver who came with some off-field baggage. The former second-rounder from Georgia had issues with punctuality over his first three years in Pittsburgh. Toward the end of Pickens’ last year with the Steelers, Mike Tomlin said the wideout needed to “grow up.”
The change of scenery worked wonders for Pickens overall. One of the few hiccups came when Schottenheimer benched him (and Lamb) for the opening series in a Week 11 win over the Raiders. The two star receivers missed curfew the night before, but that quickly blew over. Pickens went on to finish a 17-game season with across-the-board career highs in catches (93), receiving yards (1,429) and touchdowns (nine). He easily would have been the most desirable pass catcher on the open market had he gotten there.
Depending on how talks with the Jerry Jones-led Cowboys go, Pickens could still change hands via trade. Jones and Pickens’ agent, David Mulugheta, did not see eye to eye in extension negotiations with superstar pass rusher Micah Parsons last year. After a contentious battle, Jones dealt Parsons to the Packers in a late-August blockbuster.
Jones and Mulugheta will aim for more harmonious talks in this case. If they reach an agreement, Pickens would follow former Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant in inking an extension after receiving the tag. The Cowboys tagged Bryant back in 2015, but they shook hands on a five-year, $70MM deal before the mid-July deadline.
Connor Byrne contributed to this post.
“He may sit out if a deal does not come together”… A disaster waiting to unfold
You seem to be rooting for that. I’d hate for you to be disappointed.
That never works out well for them, just see Laveon Bell. Not only didn’t he not make up that lost year of salary, the year off allowed rust to sink in and he was never the same with the Jets.
I’m not so sure Le’Veon Bell made a bad business decision. He gave up $14m with the Steelers in 2018 and signed a contract with the Jets in 2019 for a guaranteed $35m. Had he suffered a career ending injury in 2018 he would have been cut and collected nothing going forward. He may have sucked with the Jets but he cashed paychecks worth $35m while he did it. #winning
I agree with you. For LeVeon Bell, the decision was the right one. He was being run into the ground in Pittsburgh. His body almost needed the year off. Bell has the money in his bank account and did not suffer a life-changing injury (partly due to low touches in NY).
Of course for the Pittsburgh Steelers legacy and for his own stats glory, another three years in Pittsburgh would have been better. The Steelers just had to guarantee the first two years of Bell’s contract to get there.
I don’t think it’s a relevant comparison. Pittsburgh was running Bell into the ground and his numbers were already on the decline. And of course he sucked when he got to the Jets. Everyone does.
Get your popcorn ready!
I expect a trade
I’m sure a disgruntled George Pickens won’t cause any problems in the locker room. LOL
Imho- the market value for Pickens now that the Cowboys will allow his agent to negotiate with nfl teams bidding for Pickens services Imho will probably be too high for the Cowboys to match- giving the Cowboys from said team two number one draft picks for 2026-2027-(recouping the number one draft pick that was traded to the Jets to require Q. Williams in 2025)- for the Cowboys to continue to rebuild the Cowboys defense to the desired Championship levels of the Cowboys defense of the 70’s and the 90’s- which led to 5 SB Trophies and 8 SB appearances.
No team is giving the Cowboys two first round picks for George Pickens.
Heard a national reporter on a local PGH sports show mention that Pickens was fined 3 times by DAL this year for missing meetings, etc.
This is in his contract year. His make or break one year push for big cash.
Good luck once you pay him.
MAYBE he’ll happen to mature before then, but more likely, they’ll just ostrich and hope.
If you googlle it says team fined him multiple times for maturity and timeliness. I agree big red flags in a contract season.