George

Pickens

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.

Yesterday, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said that “there won’t be negotiations on a long-term deal” for Pickens. Today, Pickens signed the franchise tag shortly before Day 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft is set to begin. With Pickens having signed the deal, the Cowboys now have the ability to trade him. He will make $27.3 million this year if he plays out the one-year deal. Should the Cowboys send him elsewhere, the new team would be free to workout new, multi-year contract. In his first season with the Cowboys last year, Pickens posted a 93/1,429/9 receiving line.

Owner Jerry Jones apparently woke up and chose violence, shutting down any hopes of an extension for the team’s leading receiver in 2025. Stephen Jones reiterated that the team will have Pickens play on the franchise tag in 2026. This comes less than a month after Jerry told reporters the team has long-term plans for Pickens. As is always the case, the Cowboys are playing with one hand tied behind their backs by taking an adversarial approach with their own players. They have typically found a way to get deals done in the end, but this time sounds different. Pickens, who went for 1,429 yards and nine scores last year, will be a free agent next offseason, barring a change of heart from the Cowboys. Now the question becomes whether he will accept this fate or demand a trade, which likely starts with a hold-in during training camp.

Weird to publicly kill your leverage like that, but alright. It’s not exactly surprising that Pickens — a player who has a noted tendency to be late to meetings and has had documented clashes with coaches — hasn’t drawn much trade interest given the ballpark the Cowboys would likely be asking for in compensation. Dallas would probably have to recoup at least a second-round pick to move the talented wideout. We’re resigned to several blurbs about Pickens not showing up to various offseason activities and being a camp hold-in at this point. The resolution likely won’t happen until near the start of the season.

Of course, Jones then undercut his point by suggesting to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo that Pickens could “save a lot of money” if he “worked without an agent.” Those wacky NFL owners never learn, do they folks? This has all the makings of a long holdout as the two sides try to get Jones to converse with David Mulugheta.

As Schottenheimer made sure to point out, mini-camp and OTAs are all voluntary, but Pickens, who is currently set to play out 2026 under the franchise tag, could be at risk of missing mandatory activities when training camp kicks off this summer. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported back in February that “unless and until there is a long term deal” in place with Pickens, that he would not expect the star receiver to report to the team’s facilities. Pickens turned in a career year in his first season with the Cowboys, catching 93 passes for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns. Schottenheimer sounded optimistic about a long-term deal eventually getting done with Pickens, but with the Cowboys being notoriously slow at extending their players, it wouldn’t be surprising if it was a few months before they reach an agreement with Pickens.

“Don’t expect him to sign the tag yet,” Rapoport continues. “I would also wonder if there is another team that wants to give a premium draft pick and sign Pickens to a long-term deal themselves.” Pickens clearly put himself in the WR1 stratosphere last year, but we’d be surprised if a team was willing to give up a first-round pick for Pickens in addition to a major extension. A second-round pick might be a reasonable ask here while still being an upgrade for Dallas on the third-round pick they dealt away to acquire Pickens last offseason.