Among the top priorities for the Dallas Cowboys this offseason will be what to do with wide receiver George Pickens.
Dallas acquired Pickens in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the offseason and there is no question it panned out.
Pickens had a career year that saw him tally personal bests in receptions (93), yards (1,429) and touchdowns (nine) while also garnering his first Pro Bowl nod.
As we wait to see what the Cowboys will do with Pickens, Nick Harris of the Star-Telegram predicts Dallas will initially utilize the franchise tag on the wide receiver before signing him to a four-year, $120 million contract.
Here's what Harris wrote:
The most notable player set to hit the free agent market for the Cowboys, and arguably the entire NFL. In a one-year “prove-it” situation in Dallas, Pickens exceeded all expectations with a massive year to help power the No. 2 offense in the NFL. He is easily expected to land the largest contract of all free agent receivers, with Spotrac projecting an average annual value of $30.6 million. The Cowboys are expected to place a franchise tag on Pickens to prevent him from hitting the open market and to give them time to work out a long-term deal. If a tag is placed, the Cowboys would have until July 15 to work out a contract.
This would be a mistake for a few reasons.
For starters, the Cowboys already have a lot invested in CeeDee Lamb and having a large chunk of the salary cap tied up in two wide receivers will limit what the team can do elsewhere.
The Cowboys need to dump as much of their resources as possible into the defense, which was the biggest issue for Dallas in 2025. As successful as the Pickens trade proved to be, it did nothing to change the outlook of the Cowboys' season.
Another issue with paying Pickens is his history of behavioral and effort issues during his days with the Steelers.
We saw glimpses of those issues in Dallas, as Pickens looked disinterested in a few games and was even benched for missing the team bus.
Handing over a large sum of money to Pickens will only increase the chances of him reverting back to the problem he was in Pittsburgh.
The right approach for the Cowboys is simple: tag Pickens, trade him to the highest bidder, find a cheaper replacement and don't look back.
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