The Dallas Cowboys are expected to place the franchise tag on George Pickens, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported. He is due to hit free agency this offseason.
Pickens played the last year of his rookie contract with the Cowboys this past season after coming over in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He had a huge season, leading Dallas with 93 receptions for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns to earn a Second Team All-Pro selection.
The franchise tag comes at a projected cost of a fully guaranteed $28 million for one year, Schefter reported. Dallas can place the tag between Feb. 17 and March 3. The tag can either be a way to start negotiations about a new contract – Pickens would be able to shed the tag and sign a deal – or limit his options in free agency.
Throughout the offseason, ownership expressed its desire to get a deal together. That includes owner Jerry Jones, who said he’d like to see Pickens stay in Dallas for the forseeable future.
“I’m talking to Geroge all the time by virtue of my excitement for him,” Jones said, via DallasCowboys.com’s Tommy Yarrish. “He’s better than, as far as what he contributed to our team, showing the potential that he could contribute. I’m looking forward to getting things worked out so George can be a Cowboy a long time.”
Multiple Cowboys support keeping George Pickens
George Pickens’ future has been a major point of conversation throughout this week at both the Pro Bowl and on Radio Row ahead of Super Bowl LX. He formed quite the duo with CeeDee Lamb with the Cowboys in 2025. Keeping that together would provide important continuity for Dak Prescott and the rest of the offense.
In fact, Lamb went so far as to say he’d consider restructuring his contract to bring Pickens back, if it came down to it. That speaks to the former Georgia star’s importance to the Cowboys.
“I mean, if it’s necessary. Honestly,” Lamb said when asked if he’d be willing to defer money or restructure. “I’m pretty good, but I know he’s going to get every penny he deserves here in Dallas.”
Prescott was also part of the chorus of voices that spoke in favor of keeping Pickens with the Cowboys. He said while he planned to leave it to the front office to decide the next steps, he was willing to step in, if asked to give his opinion.
“It doesn’t matter, whichever way that they got to do it, he’s an important piece of this offense, an important piece of what we’re trying to do. I’ll leave it to those guys,” Prescott said, per The Athletic‘s Jon Machota. “Obviously if I need to get involved, I’ve said it before, I will. But (I’m) confident in (Cowboys owner Jerry Jones) and everybody who makes those decisions and how much he means to us.”