PHOENIX — The Cowboys have an extensive history of utilizing the franchise tag. They’ve applied it 10 times on seven different players since 2010, with star receiver George Pickens being the lucky chosen one this offseason.
It’s a part of their past and present — and after listening to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Tuesday, it should be expected to be a part of their future, too.
“I don’t and won’t get into our planning and structure of our team and our cap but the franchise tag is an integral part of all teams,” Jones said on Tuesday from the annual owners meetings in Arizona, “but certainly an integral part of our strategy over the next two or three years as we look at how to keep the best players we can have relative to the cap.”
The Cowboys’ motivation for using it is also interesting.
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There have been 131 franchise tags applied across the NFL from 2010 to 2025. In that time, 71 franchise tags have been stop gaps to extension agreements between the player and their respective team. On the flip side, 60 of those franchise tags didn’t result in deals by the end of the negotiation window, which falls on July 15 this year.
Read more:Cowboys open up on 2026 plans for George Pickens as long-term contract questions loom
The Cowboys have mostly stayed down one path, at least when it comes to an initial usage of the franchise tag. In that time, only one franchise tag resulted in an extension before the long-term negotiation window closed. The Cowboys signed wide receiver Dez Bryant to a five-year, $70 million extension in 2015.
The Cowboys did come to agreements after franchise tags with quarterback Dak Prescott and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, but those deals came together after the second consecutive time the Cowboys franchise tagged them. Both Prescott and Lawrence signed extensions after playing one full season on the franchise tag. Defensive end Anthony Spencer (2012 and 2013), tight end Dalton Schultz (2022) and running back Tony Pollard (2023) never signed long-term extensions with the Cowboys.
There is a strategy to operating this way.
Pickens, for example, is set to make roughly $27.3 million on a one-year deal if he and the Cowboys can’t come to an agreement before July 15. That would rank him 14th among wide receivers in terms of annual average value. The Cowboys, as it stands, could wait and see how Pickens performs before re-engaging on contract negotiations the next season.
They could also tag Pickens again next year, with the cost of the tag jumping to roughly $32.76 million or the average of the top five highest-paid receivers in the NFL, depending on whatever number is greater. That number would still likely be less than what Pickens and his representation, including Athletes First agent David Mulugheta, would want per year on a long-term deal for Pickens.
Jones said that he’s had contact with Pickens’ representation, but no negotiations.
“The franchise tag has an automatic timeframe on it and all of us will, and it’s my plan and our thought, that we’ll all be working within the timeframe of the conditions of the franchise tag,” Jones said. “It should play itself out is the best way for me to say it. Make no mistake about it, we have long-term plans in mind for Pickens.”
Using the franchise tag isn’t without risk. There’s hidden cost. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Pickens miss voluntary workouts and even mandatory events, including training camp. That would follow the path of other Cowboys players who wanted a new deal and didn’t easily obtain one.
Pickens has been practicing with Prescott on his own, much to the appreciation of the Cowboys. It’s also hard to imagine that work could compare with the chemistry that’s forged during training camp in Oxnard, however.
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said he doesn’t plan to push Pickens to attend voluntary work.
“We’re all going through the process,” Schottenheimer said Monday. “It’s almost April. We’re still a couple weeks away. It’s going to play out the way it plays out. Again it’s all voluntary. We’ll see where it goes.”
Schottenheimer also was adamant that they want Pickens around for the future. He set career highs in catches, yards and touchdowns last season, earning his first Pro Bowl appearance. The Cowboys believe they are in a window where Prescott can play the best of his career; having a receiver like Pickens to go with fellow star CeeDee Lamb certainly helps.
As of now, however, the only certainty is the non-exclusive tag attached to Pickens.
“All of us play under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement, and the collective bargaining agreement clearly anticipates the franchise tag, and that’s part of what you sign up for in the NFL when you’re playing in the NFL or you’re a team in the NFL,” Jones said. “And the franchise tag is there for a purpose. It’s to benefit the process to go ahead and put your team together. We are availing ourselves of it.”
They plan to do so in the future, too.
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