One of the biggest question marks this offseason for the Cowboys was the future of wide receiver George Pickens. Would Dallas offer Pickens a long-term deal to keep him?
In March, the Cowboys franchise tagged Pickens to essentially give the two sides more time to negotiate a long-term contract. It was expected that a bigger deal would be determined by July 15, the deadline for franchise-tagged players.
However, the Cowboys decided to not negotiate a long-term deal with the receiver this offseason. This is the lengthy response Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones gave about Pickens on Wednesday during the team’s pre-draft press conference:
“We've made a decision that we're going to have George Pickens play under the franchise tag, which won't be a first for us. So there won't be negotiations on a long-term deal,” Jones said. “That's certainly not a first for this organization and certainly won't be a first in the league in terms of this decision as we move forward. Whether it's Dak Prescott, who played under one and got tagged a second time, whether it's D-Law [DeMarcus Lawrence], whether it's Tony Pollard, we've certainly had those situations.
“We're fired up to have George on this football team. Obviously, he's been here for a year. We gave up a third-round pick. Certainly, he's made tremendous progress in the year that he's been here. I think he'd be the first to tell you that this is a great situation for him, playing with CeeDee [Lamb] and Dak and coach [Brian] Schottenheimer's offense. I think he loves coach Schottenheimer and what he brings to the table. But certainly, a conscious decision that we'd make.”
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Jones also admitted that part of the reason for the team’s decision to wait on a bigger contract for Pickens is because the Cowboys also have one of the other top receivers in the league—CeeDee Lamb, who is playing on a four-year, $136 million extension he signed in August 2024. The Cowboys are considering the money first and foremost.
“It’s not easy having two receivers being paid top of the market,” Jones said. “That's obviously a stretch, especially when you have other great players on your team, a quarterback that's been here being the highest-paid player in this league for many years now. Certainly, that's part of it. The other thing is the newness of George being here. I think George has just done an amazing job. He's exceeded all expectations. … So that's a plus. A lot of these things, they make their way toward a long-term deal, but that's the biggest part of it. Between the business and the newness of it, I think that's a big part of it.”
The Cowboys have a long history of franchise tagging star players. Quarterback Prescott was given the franchise tag twice in 2020 and ‘21, but reached an extension agreement the second year. He eventually signed another extension in 2024 which made him the highest-paid player in league history. Most recently, Dallas offered running back Tony Pollard the franchise tag in 2023, but he wasn’t given a long-term deal the following offseason and opted to go to the Titans.
Pickens’s future in Dallas will be another hot topic of conversation next offseason as the team will decide whether the receiver will get an extension or look somewhere else to play, like Pollard did.
The receiver is coming off an impressive season on the field. He tallied career-highs in receptions (93), yards (1,429), and touchdowns (9) in 2025 while earning both second-team All-Pro honors and his first Pro Bowl selection. If he produces another incredible season this year, there’s a good chance he’ll earn the extension.
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MADISON WILLIAMS
Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University.
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