George Pickens signs franchise tag as Cowboys enter NFL Draft; Dallas resolves receiver contract tension amid defensive draft focus.
DALLAS — Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens has signed the franchise tag, according to reports.
NFL insiders Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport tweeted the news just hours before the beginning of the 2026 NFL Draft. This comes one day after Cowboys executive vice president of personnel Stephen Jones said he won’t negotiate with the star receiver or his agent on a long-term contract and expected Pickens to play this season under the franchise tag.
Pickens had not signed the franchise tag at the time of Jones’ comments on Wednesday.
In doing so, now, Pickens will be on the books for one year, worth $27.3 million. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer told reporters Wednesday he had met with Pickens recently.
“It was good,” Schottenheimer said during the Cowboys’ news conference leading into the NFL draft, which starts Thursday night. “The thing that George knows about Jerry and me is we’re very upfront, and we’re honest. We had a great conversation. We informed him. We think that’s important because that’s the way we handle all of our players and coaches.”
Pickens, acquired last offseason in a trade with Pittsburgh, had career highs in catches (93), yards receiving (1,429), and touchdowns (nine) for one of the best offenses in the NFL last season. Dallas had one of the worst defenses in the league and finished 7-9-1, missing the playoffs for the second year in a row.
The 2022 second-round pick out of Georgia thrived alongside CeeDee Lamb, who is going into the second year of a $136 million, four-year contract that currently ranks him third among NFL receivers with an average annual value of $34 million.
Lamb missed the entire offseason and training camp in 2024, holding out for the deal he signed about two weeks before the season opener.
The Cowboys couldn’t use the tag on Lamb because he was going into the fifth year of his rookie contract. The fifth year is a team option that goes with all deals for first-round picks. Second-rounders have four-year deals, and Pickens earned $6.8 million on his rookie contract.
Quarterback Dak Prescott and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence played a season under the franchise tag within the past eight years for Dallas before reaching long-term deals. Tight end Dalton Schultz and running back Tony Pollard also played under the tag before leaving in free agency the next year.
The Cowboys are a year removed from contentious negotiations with Micah Parsons that ended with the star pass rusher getting traded to Green Bay. David Mulugheta, Pickens’ agent, was also Parsons’ agent.
The Cowboys have the No. 12 overall pick and No. 20 overall pick in the first round. Many expect them to draft defense with both picks to shore up their defensive woes, but Jerry Jones noted they picked CeeDee Lamb when many thought they’d go to the defensive side of the ball that year, too.
Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.