Cowboys say George Pickens will not get long-term deal in 2026, will play on tag
Even though Wednesday’s setting was a pre-draft press conference for the Dallas Cowboys, the biggest news to come out of the nearly hourlong session with reporters was the team announcing its 2026 intentions for wide receiver George Pickens.
After applying the franchise tag on Pickens earlier this offseason, the team has now dedicated their thinking to not giving Pickens a long-term contract in 2026. The plan is for him to play on the franchise tag.
“We’ve made a decision that we’re going to have George play under the franchise tag,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “Which won’t be a first for us. So, there won’t be negotiations on a long-term deal.”
The Cowboys traded for Pickens last offseason in a deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers that sent away a 2026 third-round pick. In one year with the team, Pickens led all Cowboys in the three major receiving categories by hauling in 93 receptions for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns. His four-year rookie contract expired at the end of the season, and the Cowboys retained his rights by applying the franchise tag.
The tag has not yet been signed by Pickens, as he could hold out in the hopes for more long-term security, even though Wednesday’s news doesn’t offer optimism to that scenario.
“We’re so fired up to have George on this football team,” Jones said. “Obviously, he’s been here for a year. We gave up a third-round pick for him, and certainly he’s made tremendous progress in the year he’s been here. I think he’d be the first to tell you this is a great situation for him, playing with CeeDee [Lamb] and Dak [Prescott] and in Coach [Brian] Schottenheimer’s offense. He loves Coach Schottenheimer and what he brings to the table, but [it’s] certainly a conscious decision that we’ve made.”
Team owner and general manager Jerry Jones and Schottenheimer informed Pickens of the news prior to Wednesday’s press conference, a meeting that Schottenheimer said was “a great conversation.”
As the Cowboys begin their offseason voluntary workouts on Monday, the team has not received any assurances from Pickens that he will be present. He would have to sign the franchise tag beforehand to show up and participate, anyway.
The team also informed Pickens’ representation, which includes agent David Mulugheta of Athletes First.
“It went real well, super cordial [with Mulugheta],” Jones said. “Obviously, he can speak to it as well in terms of what his view of it was, but it was very cordial. The call went on for five to 10 minutes, and it was very productive, I thought.”
In explaining the thought process around wanting to keep the tag on Pickens in 2026, Jones offered two reasons.
“It’s not easy having two receivers being paid top of the market,” he said. “The other thing is the newness of George being here. I think George has just done an amazing job. I mean, he’s exceeded all expectations, I think [of] anybody, or we wouldn’t have gotten for a third-round pick. So, that’s a plus ... Between the business and newness of it, I think that’s a big part of it.”
Approaching the start of the draft on Thursday night, the Cowboys did not rule out the possibility of taking a receiver in the first round if an elite talent falls to their selection. Similar to the 2020 draft when the Cowboys were seeking out elite defensive talents, Lamb fell to their selection at No. 17 overall, and the choice was made to take the Oklahoma receiver. With Pickens and Lamb already in the building, that could muddy the outlook even more for Pickens’ future if the same happens on Thursday night.
“It would certainly be no different as we look at the board and our number gets called to pick, and we’ll make that decision at that point,” Jones said. “We’re certainly not opposed to taking the best player on our board. That’s usually where we’ve had our most success is doing that. We were all set to go defense in that particular [2020] draft and CeeDee Lamb was sitting there, and that’s the guy we went with. It’s turned out to be a great selection for us.”
If the Cowboys have a change of heart or give in to a potential standoff with Pickens this offseason, the two sides would have until July 15 to work out a long-term contract before the tag remains in place for the season. At that point, the two sides would only be able to negotiate a reworked one-year contract.
If Pickens decides to hold out, he would have until the Tuesday following Week 10 of the season to remain out of all team activities before he would have to sit out the whole season and forfeit the $27.3 million that he is set to make in 2026. That scenario has only played out twice in NFL history with running back Le’Veon Bell in 2018 and defensive tackle Sean Gilbert in 1997.
This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 3:13 PM.
