Here we go again.
The Cowboys and a player represented by agent David Mulugheta are headed for a potential contract dispute.
Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that the Cowboys are expected to apply the franchise tag to receiver George Pickens. That would block Pickens from hitting the open market on March 11 as an unrestricted free agent.
The Cowboys acquired Pickens in a May 2025 trade with the Steelers. Dallas sent a third-round pick in 2026 and a fifth-round pick in 2027 for Pickens and a sixth-round pick in 2027.
Pickens had a career-high 93 catches for a career-high 1,429 receiving yards and a career-high nine receiving touchdowns. He earned second-team All-Pro honors.
The franchise tag for receivers will be in the range of $28 million. That’s more than four times his career earnings of $6.7 million, but it’s far less than the current market rate of $40 million per year.
If/when the tag is applied, the Cowboys and Pickens will have until July 15 to negotiate a multi-year deal. If the non-exclusive tag is applied, any other team would be eligible to sign Pickens to an offer sheet, with the Cowboys having a right to match and two first-round picks as compensation if they don’t.
Pickens will have the right to withhold services until he gets a long-term deal, since he won’t be under contract. He can stay away from the offseason program, training camp, and the preseason. He can show up and accept the franchise tender days before the start of the regular season and still make his full tag amount.
And while, on the surface, there’s no reason to hold out after July 15 (since he can’t get a long-term deal), Pickens could take the position that he wants more than the amount of the tag for 2026.
On the other hand, if Pickens will essentially be in a second straight contract year, he may decide to take the money, show up early, and do everything he can to chase a long-term deal in 2027. Of course, the Cowboys could tag him a second time in 2027; by rule, he’d get a 20-percent increase over the 2026 compensation. At $28 million this year, he’d get $33.6 million in 2027.
Last year, Mulugheta client Micah Parsons and the Cowboys had an ugly contract standoff that resulted in a late-August trade. A repeat of that specific outcome is unlikely this time around, because a trade after July 15 would not allow Pickens’s new team to sign him to a multi-year deal.
Still, this one could get ugly in other ways. Especially if Cowboys owner Jerry Jones insists on trying to bypass Mulugheta and negotiate directly with Pickens.
The Steelers have agreed to bring in another defensive assistant for new head coach Mike McCarthy.
Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, C.J. Ah You is expected to become Pittsburgh’s outside linebackers coach.
Ah You has served as outside linebackers coach for Texas Tech since 2022, also serving as the program’s interim defensive coordinator in 2024.
While Ah You has been in coaching since 2015, this will be his first NFL position.
A Bills seventh-round pick in the 2007 draft, Ah You appeared in 33 games with three starts for the Rams from 2009-2011.
The Steelers announced the addition of five assistant coaches to Mike McCarthy’s staff on Wednesday afternoon.
Offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio’s hiring headlines the group. Angelichio spent the last four seasons as the passing game coordinator and tight ends coach for the Vikings. He also spent time as the tight ends coach for the Packers during McCarthy’s time as the head coach in Green Bay.
The Steelers also confirmed that they have hired special teams coordinator Danny Crossman and assistant head coach/secondary coach Joe Whitt.
Longtime NFL defensive lineman Domata Peko is joining the team as their defensive line coach. He held the same position at the University of Colorado in 2025 and he worked as a defensive assistant under McCarthy with the Cowboys in 2024.
The Steelers have also hired Pat Reilly as a defensive quality control coach. He was an offensive assistant with the Texans in 2025.
Joe Flacco wrapped up his 18th season with his first trip to the Pro Bowl and the prospect of a 19th season came up during a Wednesday visit to PFT Live.
Flacco said that there are “lots of things that go into” a decision to sign with a team for the 2026 season. At the top of the list is whether or not he will have a chance to get on the field.
“At this point, I don’t want to just sign up with anybody, I don’t want to just play football or be on the sideline for the sake of being out there,” Flacco said.
Flacco opened the 2025 season as the starter in Cleveland and moved on to the Bengals in a trade after Joe Burrow injured his toe. Flacco said he enjoyed his time with the team, but Burrow’s presence would put be an obstacle to starting any more games.
“I like the idea of Cincinnati, but, at the same time, you are resigning to something there,” Flacco said. “There’s a world where I could see that happening, but I have to see what’s out there.”
The move to the Bengals means that Flacco has now played for three of the four AFC North teams. The Steelers have an unsettled quarterback position right now and Flacco called it a “pretty cool idea” to hit every team in the division while reiterating that he’ll have to evaluate every opportunity before making any decisions.
Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy is bringing in a familiar face to help run the team’s defense.
Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, Joe Whitt Jr. is joining Pittsburgh as assistant head coach/secondary coach.
Whitt previously served under McCarthy with the Packers from 2008-2018. After initially joining the club as a defensive quality control coach, he was promoted to cornerbacks coach in 2009 and defensive passing game coordinator in 2018.
He then worked under McCarthy again with the Cowboys from 2021-2023 as defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach before following Dan Quinn to the Commanders in 2024 to work as the team’s defensive coordinator. But Quinn took back defensive play-calling duties midway through the 2025 season before dismissing Whitt after the conclusion of the season.
