George Pickens to play on franchise tag, Cowboys don't rule out WR in NFL draft

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The Dallas Cowboys are locked in another contract dispute.

In what appears to be tradition at this point, the Cowboys are prepared to have George Pickens play the 2026 season on the franchise tag that is worth $27.2 million, according to Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones. It was previously thought that a long-term extension would be coming for the star receiver, but that no longer appears to be on the table.

Jones spoke about the contract situation with reporters at a press conference on April 22, just one day before the 2026 NFL Draft.

"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."

Jones noted that the Cowboys are a great situation for Pickens, who thrived playing alongside CeeDee Lamb in 2025, posting career-highs across the board with 93 catches, 1,429 receiving yards and nine touchdowns to earn a second-team All-Pro nod for the first time in his career.

Lamb, who signed a four-year, $136 million deal ahead of the 2024 season, was listed as one of the reasons for the Cowboys' hesitancy to invest in Pickens at this time.

"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."

Pickens and his agent, David Mulugheta, have been informed of the Cowboys decision and the team has been given no assurances that the receiver will take part in the offseason activities.

If Dallas decides to reverse course and work on a long-term deal, both sides have until July 15 to finalize an extension.

In the meantime, the franchise tag remains unsigned, but Jones said the team has been in communication with Pickens and his agent throughout the process.

Notably, the team didn't rule out selecting a receiver in the draft if the opportunity presented itself – as long as that player falls where they want on their board. Whether that is leverage or an indication that the Cowboys could be open to trading Pickens remains to be seen.

“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.”

For now, the contract drama sets up another match between the Cowboys and Mulugheta. Both sides famously sparred during the 2025 offseason as the Micah Parsons' situation took centerstage.

Jerry Jones tried to end the stalemate, negotiating a deal with Parsons by cutting out his agent, David Mulugheta. The deal was never finalized and Jones blasted Mulugheta during an appearance on Michael Irvin's YouTube channel for holding up the agreement.

NFL draft wide receiver rankings

If the Cowboys turn to the draft to find a supplement to the wide receiver room – or find a potential successor to Pickens – they can dip into a deep prospect pool.

Here's how the top-10 wide receivers rank, per Ayrton Ostly's big board: