Cowboys on Pickens contract: ‘We love him, want him here’ – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com
Any version of the Cowboys as a contending team in 2026 includes George Pickens back for another season.
Speaking to reporters from the start of the NFL Combine, executive vice president and director or player personnel Stephen Jones gave insight into the latest on Pickens, and more.
Jones noted “it takes time” when negotiating a deal with so many different machinations and that will be near the top of the market once it’s done. He went on to double down on the fact the Cowboys “want Pickens here” and that they “love him” and “think the world of him”.
For his part, Pickens has already made it clear he’d like to remain in Dallas, having already built an intense chemistry with All-Pro talent Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, as well as the locker room as a whole, and Jones views that “as all a plus” in their upcoming contract talks.
Should Pickens receive the franchise tag, there are questions outside the building regarding if he’ll decide to play under it.
Jones rightfully notes the Cowboys have “had people play under the tag” previously, such as Prescott, DeMarcus Lawrence and Dalton Schultz, but that they’ve also “done deals with people that have a tag” — specifically Prescott and Lawrence, who both saw their last tag rescinded due to a new contract.
For the purposes of bookkeeping, it’s key to note Pickens would forfeit $28 million in fully guaranteed salary and be forced to miss an entire year of football if he is tagged and, absent a deal by mid-July, choose to not play under it.
That doesn’t sound as if it’s something the Cowboys are currently concerned with, particularly considering they feel they can get a deal done with the newly-crowned Pro Bowler coming off of a 1,400-yard, nine touchdown season, career-highs in both categories; and Jones says that, if push comes to shove, the Cowboys can still “do everything we need to” if they’re tied to a $28 million franchise tag, seeing as they can free up more than $130 million in restructures alone that do not require a player’s permission.
Stephen Jones: Dallas Cowboys ‘leaning toward’ placing franchise tag on George Pickens – RJ Ochoa, Blogging The Boys
Would having Pickens play yet another season on an expiring contract be a good usage of the Cowboys franchise tag?
The window for NFL teams to place the franchise tag on players opened last week and officially closes on March 3rd. If the Cowboys want to keep Pickens around and don’t have a long-term deal in place by then, well, obviously it makes sense to tag Pickens to at the very least buy time.
As far as wide receivers are concerned, the franchise tag value is expected to come in around $28M once things are official and set in stone. That is south of the $30M APY that Pickens’ representation reportedly hoped to get when he first joined the team, but it stands to reason that he would clear that on a hypothetical new deal.
It goes without saying that this is the biggest story going on with the Cowboys at the moment. Until Pickens has officially been tagged or has a new deal, it is going to be a thing.
Credit Jerry Jones, the Cowboys’ offseason is off to a strong start – Shane Taylor, Inside The Star
Whether or not the Cowboys spend on outside free agents will be the real story of the offseason, but so far the moves they’ve made are solid.
The Cowboys made a move early in the offseason, for a guy fans love and wanted to return, in a deal that got done quietly and quickly, for money that is rational and responsible but also respectful of the impact the player makes.
The best thing about the deal is that it all happened without any nonsense, any ridiculous headlines, any non-football anything at all.
This feels like the third or fourth consecutive positive development of the offseason for this franchise. Without trying to argue with me, please tell me where I am wrong about this?
More Work To Do
Now look, Jerry should be far from done. The defense still needs help, badly.
They need to work on getting a deal done with George Pickens, and rework a little bit of the Dak Prescott deal, that, yes, can be done and create a lot of cap space.
They got two of the biggest things done before they even hit the free agent period and the draft month, meaning they can go into the next two months having a full understanding of what the biggest issues for this team still are and not have to worry about seven different things.
They need to try and get some personnel for Parker on the defensive side of the ball, but now they don’t have to worry about trying to get a deal done with both Williams and Pickens.
Cowboys’ blockbuster George Pickens trade looks more lopsided by the day – Jerry Trotta, The Landry Hat
The best part about the Cowboys having George Pickens is the way it stabilized the top of the depth chart at wide receiver, a position the team can’t afford to take a step back at right now.
Pickens was one of the best receivers in the NFL last season, ranking sixth with 93 catches, third with 1,429 receiving yards, and eighth with nine touchdowns. Everything that was said post-trade came true: Pickens was a perfect fit with Prescott and the ideal complementary wideout for CeeDee Lamb.
A historically bad defensive season is the only reason the Cowboys missed the playoffs. Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk thinks the Steelers could make a move for Tyreek Hill, whose status for 2026 is up in the air as he recovers from a catastrophic knee injury.
“The Steelers could be in play. They’ve got DK Metcalf, and what, Calvin Austin III? No offense, he’s not Tyreek Hill,” Florio said.
Steelers are desperate for a WR after trading George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys
Hill is now a free agent after being released by the Miami Dolphins. There are worse options available, but pursuing Hill would be a sad encapsulation of the Steelers’ repeated attempts to cling to relevancy.
It’s why they hired Mike McCarthy to replace Mike Tomlin rather than a younger head coach. It’s why a 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers will be their starting quarterback next season, if he doesn’t retire, after ranking 28th with a 43.8 percent success rate and 22nd with a 0.077 EPA per play, per RBSDM.
The Steelers thought trading for and extending D.K. Metcalf was an adequate plan to replace Pickens. Metcalf caught just 56 passes for 850 yards and six touchdowns. That’s a highly underwhelming stat line for the game’s fourth-highest-paid wide receiver at $32.9 million per year.
Top 101 NFL free agents of 2026: Who are the best players available? – Gregg Rosenthal, NFL.com
The Cowboys land a top-five player on this list with Pickens, but also a veteran that many fans want back on defense.
Rank 2
George Pickens WR · Age: 25
Pickens’ 2025 season was him cashing in on all that talent that was obvious since his days at Georgia. Whether he continues to perform at that level is up to him; whether he stays in Dallas is not.
Rank 101
Jadeveon Clowney Edge · Age: 33
No one has earned his role as Mr. 101 more convincingly than Clowney, a near-annual fixture on this list. I thought that run was over before he started sacking fools straight off the couch in 2025, just like he’ll do for the next 25 years.