If the Dallas Cowboys deserve some credit for how they’ve approached their offseason when it comes to star wide receiver George Pickens, then this is the most significant reason for that credit: They never let their intentions be confused or ambiguous. Since the end of the NFL season in February, once the Super Bowl passed, Dallas let it be known–to the media, to other teams, to Pickens and agent David Mulugheta–that there were no plans to sign their breakout star receiver to a long-term deal this winter.
Pickens would get the franchise tag, worth $27.3 million, and that would be that.
Indeed, the Cowboys tagged Pickens in late February, well ahead of the deadline to do so, and did not budge an inch off of their position. Pickens attempted to find a team willing to trade for him and pay him, but once it was clear that was not happening, in late April, Pickens signed the franchise tag. But that did not necessarily mean the saga was over–at least not until Wednesday evening.
George Pickens Officially Franchise Tagged
That’s when a key deadline for the Cowboys and Pickens–and, indeed, for any franchise-tagged player–passed. Once a team tags a player, even if the player signs the tender, the sides have an opportunity to still work out a new, long-term free-agent contract. But it takes two to tango, and Pickens was dancing solo on his desire for an extended deal with the Cowboys.
As Adam Schefter of ESPN wrote on Twitter/X: “Cowboys WR George Pickens officially will play the 2026 season on his $27.3 million franchise tender after Wednesday’s 4 PM Eastern deadline for tagged players to agree long-term contracts passed.”
So the deadline passed, and now, the Pickens-Cowboys pact is set in stone for 2026. A one-year, $27.3 million contract is on the books. And, truly, it is a bargain for the Cowboys, who are getting a player who would have a market valuation worth more than $35 million or so per year if he had hit standard free agency after a season in which he grabbed 93 passes and racked up 1,429 yards, the fourth-most in franchise history.
Cowboys Have Had No Complaints
But Pickens had long accepted that this would be his fate with the Cowboys in 2026. After missing OTAs in early June and appearing to be ready to protest his contract situation by perhaps sitting out more, Pickens showed up for mandatory minicamp a month ago and is planning on being in training camp in Oxnard at the end of the month.
While there was trepidation on the part of many around the Cowboys that Pickens would make things difficult this offseason for Dallas, that has really not been the case.
As Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network said after the deadline on Wednesday: “He showed up and really has not just said the right things but acted like he is saying the right things, It really seems like he is in a good place now, knowing he has got to go in, play it out and cash in and become probably the top free agent for the 2027 offseason.”
Cowboys’ Key George Pickens Deadline ‘Officially’ Passes on Wednesday