DALLAS — Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens is the second-ranked player on NFL.com‘s way-too-early list of the top 25 free agents for 2027, published Friday by Gregg Rosenthal. Los Angeles Rams receiver Puka Nacua holds the No. 1 spot. Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown is one of 10 players listed as also receiving votes.
The Cowboys have not sounded interested in paying Pickens beyond this season “to be Robin to CeeDee Lamb’s Batman,” and that everything from training camp points to Pickens repeating his 2025 production.
The list highlights extensions, trades, and franchise tags that will probably reduce the 25 names before free agency starts on March 11. The Rams account for six of these spots.
George Pickens Is Playing 2026 on the Franchise Tag
Pickens is playing the 2026 season on the non-exclusive franchise tag. Dallas applied the tag in February, and he signed the fully guaranteed $27.3 million tender on April 29. His $27.298 million tag figure ranks 19th among NFL receivers this season, according to NFL.com’s Kevin Patra, and Lamb’s $34 million average ranks sixth. Lamb signed a four-year, $136 million extension in August 2024 that runs through 2028.
Before the 2026 draft, the Cowboys said they would not negotiate a long-term deal with Pickens during the season. The July 15 deadline for tagged players to sign multiyear contracts passed without one. Three other players received the tag this year, and all three agreed to extensions before that date. Pickens is the first Cowboys player tagged since Tony Pollard in 2023, and Dallas has not signed a first-time tagged player to an extension since Dez Bryant in 2015.
Stephen Jones Calls Paying Two Receivers a Bigger Challenge Next Year
Executive vice president Stephen Jones appeared Tuesday on the DLLS Cowboys podcast and agreed that Dallas built this roster with this season in mind, calling that “a fair statement.”
“You look at the situation we have with George Pickens going alongside CeeDee. Most teams. I don’t know of any teams that really can pay two top receivers, top of the market,” Jones said.
Jones said Pickens wants to put back-to-back seasons together to help his market.
“Certainly, it’ll be, if everything works out the way we think it is, which CeeDee and George both have huge years again, then it’ll be a bigger challenge next year,” Jones continued. “George is really wanting to put back-to-back years on top of one another so it’ll help his market. And certainly I know at some point, as does every player in this league, will want to be rewarded with a long-term contract. So that certainly puts pressure on us to have a unique situation there.”
In his first season in Dallas, Pickens caught 93 passes for 1,429 yards and 9 touchdowns in 17 games. He made his first Pro Bowl and was named second-team All-Pro. The Cowboys acquired him from the Pittsburgh Steelers in May 2025 for a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick, with a 2027 sixth-round pick coming back to Dallas. Pittsburgh drafted him in the second round, 52nd overall, in 2022 out of Georgia. He turns 26 on March 4.
DeMarvion Overshown Enters the Final Year of His Rookie Contract
Overshown is in the final year of the rookie contract he signed as a third-round pick, 90th overall, in 2023 out of Texas. He played 6 games last season after Dallas activated him from the physically unable to perform list on Nov. 11. He has 5 sacks in 19 career games.
Dallas opens the season Sunday, Sept. 13, against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Kickoff is 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.
