The Cowboys eye the franchise tag for George Pickens as the deadline nears. Unpacking the financial implications and long-term contract possibilities for the star receiver.
FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys’ window to utilize the franchise tag on George Pickens opens today (Feb. 17) and the options are clear …
Even though some of the reporting on those options is muddy.
Here, Fish’s Top 10 Takes on the latest on one of the NFL’s biggest offseason stories …
1 - HOW MUCH NOW, WHEN AND WHY? The tag at $28 million - that would be his guaranteed one-year salary - gives Dallas contractual control over Pickens, who is otherwise set to hit free agency. Feb. 17. marks the opening of the window. March 3 is the end of that window. And then both sides have until July 15 to craft a new long-term contract … without which he plays on the tag.
2 - DALLAS’ STATED PLAN Owner Jerry Jones has said it repeatedly and he said it again at the Super Bowl.
“I'm looking forward to getting things worked out,’’ he said, “so George can be a Cowboy a long time.’’
3 - THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES PLAN As I was first to report back on Nov. 27 with a source using the phrase “the easy path,’’ the tag is viewed as a no-brainer move. It can be a placeholder while a long-term deal is being cooked up.
Or …
The Cowboys could view last year’s one-year “prove-it’’ situation following his trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers during which he proved it - Pickens led the team with 93 receptions for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns - as the precursor to another such year.
At this early stage, Pickens seems unbothered by this and any other concept.
“Just the ultimate best deal when it helps everybody,” he said. “If it’s the best thing for both parties, then I’m willing to do anything. But … I can’t control it, so I just kind of chill.”
By and large, the behavioral concerns that caused the Steelers to give up on him were a non-factor for Dallas in 2025. (No, on Monday the team didn't "leak'' nasty info about him being "fined multiple times''; the internet screwed that one up, as you can read below.)
But ...
Are they now completely erased to the point at which you want to pay him like CeeDee Lamb?
4 - WAIT - HOW MUCH LONG-TERM? I’ve estimated Pickens’ next deal to be four years and around $120 million total - $30 mil APY.
But the Cowboys have been so public in comparing him favorably to BFF Lamb that George’s agent could certainly start the demands by asking for $34 mil APY - just like CeeDee gets.
5 - DALLAS CAN’T AFFORD THAT, RIGHT? Wrong. The Cowboys have the wherewithal to easily carve out $110 million of cap room for 2026. Oh, and while the $28 million tag would eat up that much cap, a long-term deal might eat up less than $10 million in 2026 room.
It’s all quite doable. Two sides “simply’’ need to agree to do it.
6 - ABOUT THAT ‘OTHER SIDE’ … Pickens is represented by David Mulugheta, the same superagent who was involved in last offseason’s ridiculous saga between the Cowboys and Micah Parsons that resulted in the star’s trade to Green Bay.
As much as Pickens wants to stay here, Mulugheta has a job to do. And if that means making a mess (especially if the Cowboys drag their feet as they so often do in these matters)? Yes, “the other side’’ can do so … spring-time holdouts, skipping summer training camp, demanding a trade …
All of that.
7 - IS HE REALLY WORTH IT? The Cowboys locker room, coaching staff and scouting department - where they view Pickens, still just 24, as a freakish talent - insist he is.
Jones will at some point ponder whether all of those millions are better spent on four or five players rather than on one.
I wish he’d ponder that (justifiably) privately … but “the Cowboys like to be ‘above the fold,’’ and all that junk.
To me, it’s difficult to find superstar players, so once you do - once you have them in your warm embrace - you should keep them. The Cowboys locker room, coaching staff and scouting department agree with me.
And only if Jerry once again violates one of his own life-long credos (“Mr. Mike, don’t ever let your money get mad!’’) will ownership end up disagreeing.
8 - ARE THERE OTHER OPTIONS HERE? Somebody involved here decided to whisper that the Cowboys are keeping the door ajar for a potential tag-and-trade scenario. … and that Dallas might do so in exchange for a second-round pick.
That’s a dunder-headed approach to this on every level.
9 - TRUE HISTORY It’s being reported that the Cowboys “often trade superstars for big draft-pick rewards.’’ This is nonsense. There was Herschel Walker in 1989 and there was Parsons in 2025 and that’s about it.
Want a true historical fact here? The Cowboys commonly use the tag - and it commonly works out. Flozell Adams, Ken Hamlin, Anthony Spencer (twice), Dez Bryant, Demarcus Lawrence (twice), Dak Prescott (twice), Dalton Schultz and Tony Pollard all got tagged.
And the Earth kept spinning …
10 - THE FINAL WORD "I feel like, if anything, (my value) went up. But me personally, my value is just a playmaker type of guy. I feel like any team or wherever I play, I can be playing in Canada, I just want them to know that I'm definitely a playmaker." - Pickens, who won’t be playing this year in Canada, but who should be playing this year in Dallas.