George Pickens: Everything you need to know

Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said Monday that he has spoken with Pickens but is unsure whether the franchise-tagged wide receiver will attend voluntary team workouts this spring, Tommy Yarrish of the team's official site reports. Pickens currently is slated to play out the 2026 campaign on the one-year, fully-guaranteed $27.29 million franchise tag, though he and Dallas still have until mid-July to negotiate a potential long-term deal. The 25-year-old has not yet officially signed his franchise tag, however. Schottenheimer said, "We have plans for [Pickens] to be here for a long time, so we'll let the business side of this thing play out," and the coach confirmed that he hasn't sought any assurances that Pickens will attend any voluntary team activities. Cowboys COO Stephen Jones echoed Schottenheimer's statements, noting that "everybody would like to have a long-term deal" but "[w]e're just not gonna comment as we move forward on negotiations."

The Cowboys officially extended Pickens the non-exclusive franchise tag Friday, Todd Archer of ESPN.com reports. The transaction is confirmed by Patrik Walker of the team's official site. The non-exclusive franchise tag will allow Pickens to negotiate with other teams beginning with the start of the legal tampering period March 9, but allow Dallas the right to match any offer extended to the breakout wide receiver. As with any franchise tag option, both sides will still have until mid-July to negotiate a potential multi-year deal, and Cowboys ownership has continually expressed a desire to keep Pickens around long-term. If no long-term extension is finalized, Pickens will be slated to play out the 2026 campaign on a fully guaranteed one-year, $28.8 million contract, per K.D. Drummond of USA Today.

Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said Monday that the team plans to finalize designating Pickens with the franchise tag within the next week, A to Z Sports reports. Pickens receiving the franchise tag has been the expectation after his breakout inaugural campaign in Dallas, which featured a 93-1,429-9 receiving line (137 targets) across 17 regular-season appearances. The franchise tag would allow the Cowboys to retain Pickens, an impending free agent, for the 2026 season on a one-year, $28 million exclusive deal, as well as provide both sides with until mid-July to negotiate a long-term deal. Were Pickens to reach the open market as a free agent, the soon-to-be 25-year-old wideout would doubtless earn a multi-year deal well in excess of that annual salary figure. Randy Gurzi of SI.com estimates that any deal Pickens were to sign on the open market would be in the range of $30 million per year.