It is looking increasingly likely and perhaps imminent that wide receiver George Pickens will receive a franchise tag from the Dallas Cowboys. Pickens is coming off a monster 2025 season, and he is a player they absolutely have to retain if they will have any hope of returning to the NFL playoffs this coming season.
Of course, a franchise tag would only be a stopgap solution. Pickens would still have to agree to a one-year deal that goes along with a franchise tag, and it would also allow him to shop around the league and agree to an offer sheet with another team. The latter situation would result in the Cowboys having to either match that offer or let him go in exchange for draft compensation.
According to the Dallas Morning News, if Pickens receives a franchise tag, he likely won’t report for the team’s offseason workouts. That would essentially mean that the contract saga surrounding him would potentially drag into the summer, which is exactly what the Cowboys cannot afford.
Cowboys co-owner, executive vice president and CEO Stephen Jones did make it clear that he expects Pickens to participate in offseason workouts.
“We always want guys here,” Jones told the Dallas Morning News. “We've franchised players before, obviously we want him here working with the team. It will work itself out in the coming weeks.”
Coming into this past season, it had been a while since the Cowboys had a legitimate WR2. Amari Cooper, then a four-time Pro Bowler, was traded to the Cleveland Browns following the 2021 campaign, and thus, Dallas traded for Pickens this past May. He put together a career-best effort in 2025 with 93 catches, 1,429 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, which earned the 24-year-old his first Pro Bowl nod.
But it has also been a while since the Cowboys have been a force. They went 7-9-1 this past season and missed the playoffs for the second year in a row, and as every Dallas sports fan knows, the franchise hasn’t won the Super Bowl championship or even reached the NFC Championship Game since the 1995 campaign.
The Cowboys are currently in salary cap hell, so it won’t exactly be easy for them to come to terms with Pickens on a new contract, no matter how much Jones or his father, controversial owner Jerry Jones, is willing to break the bank. Just days ago, they gave a three-year, $24 million contract to running back Javonte Williams.
Dallas badly needs to improve a defense that finished last in points allowed and passing yards allowed in 2025. It is still reeling from the head-scratching trade that sent dynamo edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers, and it needs help at defensive end, as well as in the secondary.
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