Pro Football Rumors
The Cowboys have seen a handful of players spend seasons on a franchise tag over the past several years. George Pickens will follow suit, as today’s deadline for tagged players to sign extensions has now passed. The other three players to receive tags — Breece Hall, Kyle Pitts and Daniel Jones (transition) — have all signed extensions.
No Pickens extension had been expected before this year’s deadline. Cowboys COO Stephen Jones confirmed in April the team will not negotiate a long-term deal with the tagged wideout this offseason. Pickens is now locked into a tag salary for 2026 and will be unable to negotiate with the Cowboys — or another team, in the unexpected event he is traded this year — until January.
[RELATED: Players To Spend Season On Franchise Tag Since 2015]
Pickens will be tied to a $27.3MM salary. The 2025 trade acquisition has already signed his franchise tender, locking in that amount for the ’26 season. That also eliminates the likelihood of a training camp standoff, as the Cowboys would fine Pickens for missing action (had he not signed the tender, no fines could be levied). While the Cowboys can execute a tag-and-trade move after today’s deadline, Jones said the team has “zero intention” to trade him. Pickens is on track to play alongside CeeDee Lamb for at least one more season.
The former Steelers second-round pick will become the fifth Cowboy to be tied to a franchise tag beyond the July deadline over the past nine years. DeMarcus Lawrence (2018), Dak Prescott (2020), Dalton Schultz (2022) and Tony Pollard (2023) played Cowboys seasons on the tag since 2018. Dallas extended both Lawrence and Prescott after tagging them again the following year — Prescott’s second tag was procedural — while Schultz and Pollard moved on in free agency the following March. Pickens’ path will certainly be one to monitor, but Dallas will continue to evaluate the WR talent this season.
Pickens, 25, will become the sixth wide receiver to play on the tag since 2016. Alshon Jeffery (Bears, 2016), A.J. Green (Bengals, 2020), Allen Robinson (Bears, 2021), Chris Godwin (Buccaneers, 2021) and Tee Higgins (Bengals, 2024) also spent seasons on the tag. Jeffery, Green and Robinson left in free agency the next year; the Bengals and Bucs respectively reached extensions with Godwin and Higgins after applying second tags.
Dallas acquired Pickens in a May 2025 trade that sent Pittsburgh third- and fifth-round picks and a sixth back to the Cowboys. Deemed an unreliable talent in Pittsburgh, Pickens put together his best season in Dallas. The Georgia alum ripped off a 93-catch, 1,429-yard, nine-touchdown campaign. Jeremy Fowler’s annual league survey ranked Pickens as the NFL’s seventh-best receiver, only one spot behind Lamb. At the very least, the Cowboys are positioned to capitalize on the 6-foot-3 target’s age-25 season before reassessing in 2027.
Upon being acquired last year, Pickens said he aimed to play out his rookie contract. After putting together the monster 2025 season, a rumor emerged about...
