When it comes to the NFL’s 2026 free agent cycle, there is one player who stands above all others, and that’s Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens.
While there’s a possible franchise tag from the Cowboys to deal with — which Pickens almost certainly would not take kindly to — in lieu of that he should break the bank if he actually makes his way to the open market.
Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox has Pickens ranked as No. 1 in his latest ranking of the Top 50 NFL free agents, and predicts the best and most likely landing spot would be with the Buffalo Bills, where he could land something in the range of a 4-year, $124 million contract.
“Pickens should be the top target of virtually all teams in need of a true top target, provided they have the cap flexibility to offer a top-10 receiver contract,” Knox wrote. “Of course, Dallas is likely to ensure that Pickens never receives those offers.”
There’s not a team in the NFL who could use an elite wide receiver more than the Bills, although their recent past might have scared them off of anyone with a hit of being a diva — with Pickens that’s almost a guarantee.
Pickens Put True Talents on Display in Dallas
While Pickens finally put all of his skills on display this season after he was traded to the Cowboys in May and had career highs of 93 receptions, 1,439 yards and 9 touchdowns, there are still lingering red flags about his behavior that have carried over from his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Let us not forget that Pickens, 6-foot-3 and 210 pound, has been fined over a dozen times in his short career for on-field behaviors which include taunting, fighting, writing obscene messages on his face tape and, in one incredible incident, showed up late to a Christmas Day Game against the Kansas City Chiefs in 2024.
With the Cowboys, Pickens managed to lean away from those issues but not totally, including when he was benched for the first offensive series of a road game against the Las Vegas Raiders for missing the team bus.
All things to consider if you’re a team thinking about handing Pickens something around $30 million per season.
Cowboys Have Murky Financial Outlook
Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones has other issues he needs to address with his team before he has to make a decision on Pickens, which he surely knows will grab headlines throughout the spring.
First, he has to hire a defensive coordinator. Jones fired Matt Eberflus after just one season. The Cowboys had arguably the NFL’s worst defense in 2025 — something not entirely unexpected considering they traded their best player, Micah Parsons, to the Green Bay Packers before the season started.
There’s also the matter of the salary cap, where the Cowboys are almost $40 million in the red headed into the offseason.
“The salary cap has been Kryptonite for Jerry Jones for a long, long time,” ESPN’s Mike Greenberg said before Parsons was traded following prolonged, messy contract negotiations. “From a financial standpoint, his philosophy (on contract negotiations) doesn’t work. From a football standpoint, inarguably, it doesn’t work.”
Cowboys WR George Pickens Predicted for $124M Payday With AFC Playoff Team