George Pickens franchise tag: What would Dallas Cowboys’ decision cost? – Josh Sanchez, Cowboys on SI
If the Cowboys opted to franchise George Pickens, how much it would be?
The Dallas Cowboys were eliminated from NFL playoff contention in Week 16 and now have just one game remaining in the 2025-26 campaign. After the team’s Week 18 showdown against the New York Giants, the Cowboys can officially turn their attention to the offseason.
It’s going to be an interesting offseason for the Cowboys front office, with several key decisions to make regarding the roster and coaching staff. Among the key decisions for the team are the futures of star players like breakout wide receiver George Pickens, leading rusher Javonte Williams, and kicking sensation Brandon Aubrey.
Unfortunately for Dallas, there is only one franchise tag at the team’s disposal, so the remaining players will either hit the open market or agree to long-term deals. Currently, it looks like Pickens is the leader in the clubhouse for the franchise tag. But how much would that cost the Cowboys?
George Pickens franchise tag cost
According to Over the Cap, the projected franchise tag figure for a wide receiver in 2026 is $28.046 million. For Pickens’ new deal, meanwhile, Spotrac projects Pickens could land a five-year, $153.7 million contract on the open market, which averages $30.8 million per year. That would make Pickens the sixth-highest-paid receiver in the league, per Over the Cap.
The figures are close enough that if the Cowboys are serious about retaining Pickens for the future, they will be able to do so.Dak Prescott has already campaigned for Pickens’ return, along withBrian Schottenheimerand Jerry Jones, who have both said they would love to bring the star wideout back. Regardless of what direction the Cowboys go with Pickens, his future appears to be in Dallas, at least for the 2026 season. Let’s just hope something can be worked out long term.
Pickens Thrusts Himself into the Cowboys’ Record Books in his first Season – Mario Herrera Jr., Inside the Star
In such a short time, George Pickens has already etched himself among the top seasons in the franchise’s history.
This time last season, the Cowboys failed to qualify for the playoffs, and eventually got HC Mike McCarthy fired for it. McCarthy shouldn’t take all the blame, but there always needs to be a scapegoat. QB Dak Prescott missed time during the season, and that definitely contributed to the 7-10 record.
However, even when Prescott was healthy, the team was not playing well enough to make any noise in the playoffs. The running game wasn’t what it needed to be. Neither was pass protection, and one of the biggest flaws was not enough weapons on the outside. For the first time in what feels like forever, Jerry Jones and the rest of the front office staff seemed to have listened to the noise outside the building.
The result was trading away a third round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for WR George Pickens. I can’t type the words that I used during my first reaction after hearing the news, but let’s just say I was excited. As was the rest of Cowboys Nation, because pairing Pickens with CeeDee Lamb gave us visions of the best wide receiver duo in the NFL. If not the NFL, at least the NFC East. The way those visions have come to fruition makes it even more disappointing the Cowboys did not make the playoffs. George Pickens, in just his first season in Dallas, has already inserted himself into the Cowboys’ record books, and has a chance to add to it this Sunday at the New York Giants.
Into the Record Books
Any player who can claim they are on any list of records for the storied Dallas Cowboys franchise is already in good company. Pickens, who currently sits with 1,420 yards receiving through 16 games, has already catapulted himself into the Dallas Cowboys single-season record books. If the season ended today, the first-year Cowboy would rank fourth in franchise single-season receiving yards, knocking Dez Bryant out of the top five.
Here are the current top five:
It is an incredible feat, especially considering Pickens has CeeDee Lamb lined up across from him, whom he has to share targets with. Pickens stepped up in a big way with Lamb sidelined for four games, so his success cannot be tied to Lamb being on the field. With one game left in New York, Pickens needs 104 yards to pass Michael Irvin’s 1991 season total to move into third place in franchise history. That number is certainly attainable, considering he has hauled in more than 104 yards already five times this season.
Jones needs to pay this coach whatever it takes to fix Cowboys defense – K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire
Jerry Jones needs to lay out the cash to fix the Cowboys defense.
Dallas Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones loves to tell everyone he’d do whatever it takes to buy a championship. We all know that’s not exactly true, however. Jones doesn’t like firing head coaches before their contracts run out, as witnessed by them retaining Mike McCarthy for 2024 despite there being top candidates on the market like Sean Payton and Mike MacDonald, both currently in line for No. 1 seeds in their second seasons with their orgs.
After McCarthy didn’t work out, he went for the cheap option of Brian Schottenheimer instead of getting into bidding wars for the top candidates in 2025. Now Schottenheimer is fighting to achieve .500 while Ben Johnson, Liam Coen and Mike Vrabel round out the top-5 Coach of the Year candidates with Payton and MacDonald. In other words, the Cowboys could do more to get them a championship.
Jones’ claims are about to be put to the test, yet again. Dallas is expected to move on from defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. The org felt like Eberflus got away years ago, as the promising LB coach went to Indy to be DC before being head coach in Chicago. His reunion hasn’t worked out as the Cowboys have fielded one of the worst defenses in recent history.
The scheme hasn’t fit the players, and Eberflus hasn’t been flexible enough to adjust. It’s hard to envision a fourth new coordinator in four seasons, but that’s better than giving him another season to ruin in opposition to a top offense. Fortunately, there are a few options for defensive coordinators in 2026. There is however, one who is currently standing tall above the rest: Minnesota Vikings DC Brian Flores.
Flores’ resume is ridiculously impressive. Just this season, they rank 10th in fewest points allowed and fifth in fewest yards allowed (going into Week 17). The fact that he’s done this playing opposite a wholly inept offense for the year says a lot. Bad offense means the opposition gets more possessions and scoring opportunities, plus favorable field position. Despite this, they’ve held six different opponents under 20 points in a game. They’ve done this to three of their last four opponents, with only the Cowboys crossing the threshold. They were so good against Detroit on Thursday, they won despite the Vikings’ offense passing for just three yards.
Three.
The Vikings forced six turnovers in the win. For comparison’s sake, Dallas has only kept an opponent under 20 points once this season. Watching Flores’ defense game in and game out over the last month has proven to many onlookers what Minnesota fans have known; he’s a mastermind.
RB Malik Davis a surprise star from Cowboys Christmas win over the Commanders – Brian Martin, Blogging the Boys
Playing in place of Javonte Williams, Malik Davis proved to be an unlikely hero in the Cowboys holiday win.
Although it was pretty much a meaningless game after already being eliminated from the playoffs, the Dallas Cowboys played to win in Week 17 against the Washington Commanders and came through victorious. They may not have succeeded though if it hadn’t been for the surprise performance of Malik Davis, Dallas’ current backup running back.
After Javonte Williams got things started off rushing for 54 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game early with a stinger, Davis stepped in as the starter and had himself a career day on Christmas. He ended up rushing for a total of 103 yards on 20 carries and averaged 5.2 yards per touch. His performance was a big part of the Cowboys victory.
Davis has no doubt paid his dues to get where he is now as the Cowboys backup running back behind Williams. He’s been on and off the Cowboys roster and practice squad since joining the team as an undrafted free agent out of Florida in 2022. He’s even been released multiple times over the years, twice just this season alone. And yet, none of that seemed to discourage him.
Davis’ journey since in the league with the Cowboys is the kind of story we all want to see. He’s fought and clawed his way from being an undrafted free agent to now becoming a key part of Dallas’ offense, all the while not ever really knowing how secure is roster spot is. It’s a testament to his character and work ethic, something we’d love to see more of from his teammates. Maybe it will rub off on them.
No. 43 may have a chance to further prove his worth in the Cowboys regular-season finale next week against the New York Giants if Williams is sidelined with a shoulder injury (stinger). Getting a look at him as starter could help evaluate how the Cowboys brass views the RB position moving forward and potentially give them leverage if they decide to negotiate a contract extension with Williams.
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