What Comes First for Cowboys: George Pickens Extension or Another Franchise Tag?

Cowboys receiver George Pickens was one of very few players to be hit with a franchise tag this offseason, and it may be a precursor for more of the same a year from now. 

Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones didn’t speak very optimistically about the spectre of a long-term deal for the playmaker last week at the NFL owners meetings and several longtime NFL executives who have excelled at reading this owner over the years believe that will prove prescient.

Pickens brings considerable baggage with him from his time in Pittsburgh, his outwardly demonstrative nature gets the best of him during games and Jones hasn’t been spending big for years… which means he can afford to carry a player like Pickens on a short-term deal, and hence big salary cap figure, this year and next year. It’s a strategy that flies in the face of the spirit of the franchise tag, it’s a collectively bargained mechanism that is suppose to buy extra time for the sides to work out a long-term deal. 

But in many cases it serves as more a tool for teams to keep players off the market and squat on their rights for an extra year or two.

And that’s how this situation in Dallas is already shaping up.

What Did Jones Have To Say About The Situation?

At one point during his meeting with the media, Jones, notorious for trying to work deals with his top players directly with them and without their representation privy to all details and conversations, hinted that Pickens might do better in this matter without relying on his agent. 

He also spoke cryptically about the power of the tag, opining: "I don't and won't get into our planning and structure of our team and our cap, but the franchise tag is an integral part of all teams, but certainly an integral part of our strategy over the next two or three years as we look at how to keep the best players we can have relative to the cap.”

Given what Jones is already paying top receiver CeeDee Lamb and with quarterback Dak Prescott overpaid at $60M a year, few executives around the league actually expect Pickens to do anything but go year-to-year in Dallas, with his player and attitude and preparation constantly under review. And given this player’s history, it makes both fiscal and football sense. Pickens would get a 20% raise on his $27.3M salary for this season if tagged again in 2027.

“Pay-as-you guy is a smart strategy with Pickens,” said one longtime NFL contract negotiator. 

"And Jerry’s never shy about applying the tag. Even if Pickens keeps it together (in 2026), there would be some obvious concerns about how he would operate with the kind of guarantees that would come with a top-of-market deal… I don’t believe Jerry subscribes to the calculus of having two receivers on a mega deal and his quarterback at the top of the market.”

Jones has never been above picking favorites, and being willing to vastly lay-out more than the market for players who indulge him and play to his ego, while those who resist some of his overtures, like All Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons, end up going elsewhere to get paid. I’d suggest Pickens ultimately ends up in that category.