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George Pickens is signing on the dotted line in Dallas.
The Dallas Cowboys star receiver has signed the franchise tag, according to multiple reports. The tag will pay him $27.2 million for the 2026 season.
More importantly, Pickens is now officially under contract and can be traded at any time. The Cowboys haven't announced their intentions, but the timing is certainly interesting.
Pickens signed the deal just one day after Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones made headlines at the team's pre-draft press conference on April 22. Jones told the media that there would be no negotiations on a long-term deal for the receiver, who would have to play on the franchise tag.
"We've made a decision that we're gonna have George play under the franchise tag, which won't be a first for us," Jones said. "So there won't be negotiations on a long-term deal. That's certainly not a first for this organization and certainly won't be a first in the league."
"Whether it's Dak Prescott, who played under one and got tagged a second time," Jones added. "Whether it's [DeMarcus Lawrence], whether it's Tony Pollard, we've certainly had those situations. We're so fired up to have George on this football team. Obviously he's been here for a year and we gave up a third-round pick for him and certainly, he's made tremendous progress."
Pickens turned in a career year during his first season in Dallas, totaling 93 catches, 1,429 receiving yards, and nine touchdowns to earn a second-team All-Pro nod for the first time in his career.
While those numbers were great, the salary cap numbers are a different story.
"It's not easy having two receivers being paid top of the market," Jones said. "That's obviously a stretch, especially when you have other great players on your team, a quarterback that has been the highest-paid player in the league for many years now. The other thing is the newness of George being here. I think George has just done an amazing job. He's exceeded all expectations otherwise we wouldn't have gotten him for a third-round pick.
"A lot of these things make their way toward a long-term deal."
Jones later said that Pickens and his agent, David Mulugheta, were informed of the decision. Of course, Mulugheta is the same agent who represents Micah Parsons and both sides sparred often last offseason before Dallas dealt the star to the Green Bay Packers.
Mulugheta spoke with Jerry and Stephen Jones by phone to discuss Pickens' future, with the call described as "professional and cordial," according to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport.
On April 22, the Cowboys didn't rule out taking a receiver in the 2026 NFL Draft if the opportunity presented itself.
“You’re always looking at that,” Jones said. “It’s just like we did when we took CeeDee Lamb. We had some really good receivers on this team, but we took him. It would be no different as we look at the board and our number gets called to pick, we’ll make our decision at that point.
“We’re certainly not opposed to taking the best player on our board. That’s usually where we’ve had our most success.”
Whether those plans changed after Pickens signed the franchise tag remains to be seen. For now, the star is set to wear the star in 2026.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: George Pickens signs Cowboys franchise tag ahead of NFL draft
