The Cowboys have tagged Pickens for the 2026 season, so does this mean the franchise has to cash in now?
You will be hard-pressed to find many people who are happy with the aftermath of the Dallas Cowboys' decision to franchise tag star receiver George Pickens.
Not because it was a bad move at the time. ... but rather, because there has been no movement since.
Seen by some optimists as a place-holder before securing a long-term deal, there now seems less confidence from many fans in thinking the Cowboys will thrash out a deal for George.
Not with the stench of the Micah Parsons saga still in the air from last offseason.
The tag, set to pay Pickens roughly $27.3 million in 2026, locks him in for the season, but that is a big chunk of cap space. A long-term deal, as reported by our Mike Fisher, can cut that down to under $10 million.
So the Cowboys, again, are being ridiculed for not being proactive in signing their star players, as Jaxon Smith-Njigba's new deal likely means Pickens will ask for more money.
But ESPN's Ben Solak, it appears, is one person who is in favor of tagging Pickens.
"Keeping Pickens on the tag," Solak wrote in what he loved about Dallas' offseason. "He would have made somewhere near $40 million per year in free agency. Instead, the Cowboys get another crack at a passing offense centralized on CeeDee Lamb, Dak Prescott and Pickens.
"The trio has a chance to be among the league's best. With a new defensive coordinator and an improved defensive depth chart, Dallas is a sneaky team to make a deep playoff run in this one-year window."
It is the one-year window comment that has my ears pricked up.
And looking at it from a wider lens, Solak could be right if Pickens' contract status stays the same.
Indeed, what if that has been the "secret'' plan all along?
Jerry Jones this week insisted that is not the case, saying there is a "long-term plan'' to retain Pickens.
But ...
George's price tag is only going to go up this offseason, and that could be without a snap being played. If he has another 1200+yard season and a handful of touchdowns, Dallas won't get Pickens for anything under $40 million APY.
Even now, that could be the asking price.
If Pickens isn't signed to a long-term deal, you can make the case for Solak's one-year window. Although Dallas could, in theory, tag George again in 2027, at an even higher cost this season.
The Cowboys had an elite offense in 2025, thanks largely to Pickens, and coach Brian Schottenheimer gets that again for the 2026 season.
But beyond that? Who knows where George Pickens will be playing?
A one-more-year rental? Cowboys Nation sure hopes not.