Pickens disappears into the night in Week 1 loss

The July 15th deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign long-term deals came and went without Pickens signing a new deal. Cowboys executive vice president Steven Jones had said in April that “there won’t be negotiations on a long-term deal” with Pickens. The 25-year-old wide receiver showed up for mandatory minicamp and does not plan to hold out of training camp, either. He will play on a $27.3 million franchise tag and will either reach a contract extension after the season or enter unrestricted free agency in 2027. Pickens will be the WR2 across from CeeDee Lamb in 2026; both have ceilings in the fantasy WR1 range.

Solak’s prediction was among his bold predictions for the 2026 NFL season. Prescott having a shot at 5,000 yards, Solak said, would hinge on the Cowboys remaining a fast-paced offense in 2026. Last season the Cowboys led the league in play clock remaining at the snap and offensive plays per game, leading to 600 passes for Dak — a career high. The wideout duo of George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb won’t hurt matters for Prescott, who has eclipsed 4,500 passing yards three times in his NFL career. Pickens’ downfield ability was reflected in Prescott finishing sixth in deep ball accuracy last season. “The volume will be there for Prescott to not just lead the league in passing in 2026 but to once again challenge for the 5,000-yard milestone,” Solak said. Quarterbacks have thrown for more than 5,000 yards just 14 times in league history.

Schottenheimer began this section of the press conference by saying that he was very pleased with Pickens’ playbook preparedness when he showed up for mandatory minicamp this week. He did not attend organized team activities, so this is great to hear. Regarding Pickens’ pre-snap alignment, he will not just play X-receiver this season — Schottenheimer notes that Pickens does not like doing that anyway. Schottenheimer plans to line Pickens up in the slot, and isolated on the front side, on the same side as the tight end. Pickens logged just 77 slot snaps last season and 891 out wide. Giving him more opportunities to run routes against safeties and linebackers from the slot will increase his fantasy-scoring floor and ceiling. Schottenheimer also plans to expand Pickens’ route tree and build elements of the offense around his strengths, noting Pickens’ slant route successes last season in particular. He’s a WR1.

Pickens’ current ADP is in the 20-30 range and we expect most analysts will give him a little bump now that he’s not holding out of camp. CeeDee Lamb’s health clearly played a role in Pickens’ 2025 season, as did Dallas’ cataclysmically bad defense. Still, he has a real chance to finish as a WR1 this year and full reps at training camp can only help him out as he plays out the franchise tag.

After staying away from the team during voluntary workouts, Pickens is officially in the facilities and “is expected to attend mandatory minicamp this Tuesday, Wednesday, [and] Thursday,” per Machota. The Cowboys franchise tagged Pickens earlier this offseason, but the star receiver is still hoping to secure a long-term deal before the start of this season, although the Cowboys have said they don’t intend to negotiate with him ahead of the July deadline to sign tagged players to multi-year deals. In his first season with the Cowboys, Pickens enjoyed a career year, totaling 93 receptions for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns — all of which were career-highs. His decision to report to minicamp is a good sign, although that could simply be out of a desire to avoid being fined for his absence. How much he participates in practice over the three-day period will be worth watching as the week unfolds.

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer told reporters last week that he expects Pickens to attend mandatory minicamp this week, which is scheduled to run from June 16-18. Schottenheimer quickly clarified that Pickens has not “committed” to doing so. When asked if he plans to attend, Pickens reportedly shrugged and said, “uhhh” before a representative stepped in to end the conversation. Pickens is set to make $27.3 million this season by playing on the franchise tag this season. He is still seeking a long-term extension, but the front office has made it clear that it does not plan to extend Pickens this offseason. Should Pickens skip minicamp sessions, he would be fined daily. It is tough to guess as to what will happen here, but minicamp absences would likely drive Pickens’ ADP downward. At this time of the year, we advise buying the dip.

The Cowboys’ mandatory minicamp is scheduled for June 16-18. Pickens is not present for the Cowboys’ voluntary organized team activities, but head coach Brian Schottenheimer said Pickens is “in a good spot and handling his business” after speaking with the wide receiver yesterday. Pickens signed his franchise tag late in April and is set to make $27.3 million this season. Trade speculation has not amounted to anything thus far, and it sounds like Pickens will show up when he is supposed to later this month.

The Cowboys were initially reported to be placing the franchise tag on Pickens prior to the NFL draft, prompting speculation he would be dealt during the draft. However, Pickens did not sign the $27.3 million tag immediately, leaving him out of any potential trade conversations. Now, the Cowboys announce Pickens has officially signed his franchise tag. He now plays on a one-year, $27.3 million fully guaranteed deal for 2026 while aiming to negotiate a new contract with Dallas or another team that would agree to acquire and sign him to a long-term deal.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported shortly before the start of Day 1 of last week’s draft that Pickens would be signing his franchise tag. Now, it appears that is not the case. Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones said last week that the team would not have negotiations with Pickens for a long-term deal this year, but it’s possible that Pickens and his team may take their time to see if a deal can still be reached. There’s not much we know here other than Pickens hasn’t signed his tag, but with the deadline to sign tags still over two months away, Pickens has plenty of time to see if the Cowboys are willing to budge and ink him to a new deal rather than force him to play on the one-year tag. If he does play on the tag, Pickens would earn a guaranteed $27.3 million.

Pickens signed his franchise tag a little over an hour ago, prompting trade speculation. The Cowboys were unable to move him if he remained unsigned. Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones shared yesterday that the team had decided not to pursue a long-term deal with Pickens at this time. If they do indeed keep him, he will make $27.3 million this year. That said, things can change quickly, and Rapoport said nothing about the Cowboys’ plans for tomorrow.