Inside The Star
I’m looking at 2026 cap space and franchise tag like someone holding a calculator in one hand and hope in the other.
The projected NFL salary cap for 2026 is $295,500,000. The Cowboys currently sit at $34,906,087over the cap, with $330,406,087 in cap commitments already on the books.
This means flexibility is not something Dallas will have, it’s something they will need to create.
The franchise tag becomes a timing mechanism. A tool that prevents emerging talent from touching the open-market while Dallas works backwards through extensions, restructures, and cuts.
But since Dallas can only use the franchise tag once, the question becomes: Who will they use the tag on?
Which direction protects the most value in a one-year window?
Pickens will be 25 in 2026 and the traits that define his game, size, dominant catching ability, downfield willingness, and physicality, are what defenses can’t fully erase.
He’s the archetype teams regret letting go.
That being said, the projected franchise tag cost in 2026 for a wide receiver will be $28,046,000.
I think this is steep, but replacing a field-stressing receiver through free agency almost always carries long-term cost without long-term certainty.
The tag will keep Pickens from hitting the open market where a bidding war will ensue, buying Dallas a year to stabilize cap space and negotiate an extension from a leverage standpoint and not desperation.
Dallas already has a significant chunk of change committed to the offense in 2026, $200,367,412 to be exact.
You don’t have that much money on one side of the ball unless you’re committed to winning through matchup pressure and a high-scoring offense.
If the passing game is the structure, the receivers are the foundation.
Javonte Williams will be 26 in 2026. He is entering the age range where NFL backs still carry a physical tone, but with Williams the wear and tear is not at the stage of other backs.
Dallas has been searching for consistency in the running game for years and I think they have found that back in Javonte Williams.
We see Williams bring the kind of downhill power that can close games and punish light boxes.
The 2026 projected franchise tag cost for a running back is $14,143,000.
That is exactly 50.4% cheaper than the WR tag.
What I see is a young, physical back who also contributes in the passing game, and the value of keeping him off the open market for a year is real.
I don’t think Dallas will have the cap space for multiple open-market contracts, so protecting a back who brings versatility and stability at a young age, would be the bet if the front office wants to keep its ground game identity.
This decision isn’t emotional for me, it’s directional.
If Dallas wants to fortify a scoring identity through matchup imbalance, complementary alpha receivers, and offensive structure, Pickens is the...
