‘I Can’t Really Ask For Nothing Too Crazy’: George Pickens Details Contract Expectations While Playing On $27.3 Million Franchise Tag

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens will play the 2026 season on a franchise tag worth $27.3 million, and when the Cowboys are finally able to talk extension again in January, he’s looking for what receivers around him have been getting.

“Definitely something that the other guys are getting cause that’s all I can really look forward to. I can’t really ask for nothing too crazy, but just what I see. So definitely somewhere where the other guys are getting,” Pickens told CBS Sports at Cowboys camp in Oxnard on Saturday.

But the window for the Cowboys to extend Pickens this offseason has already come and gone.

The deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign multiyear contracts passed at 4 p.m. ET on July 15. Under the collective bargaining agreement, a player who reaches that date on the tag can sign only a one-year contract, and that contract can’t be extended until after his club’s last regular season game.

That means the next chance the franchise will get to ink him to a long-term deal won’t come until January of 2027, once Dallas wraps up the year at Washington in Week 18. CBS Sports put the date at Jan. 10, 2027.

Pickens was the only franchise player left in the league without a long-term agreement when the deadline hit.

What Market Value Looks Like For George Pickens

The receivers Pickens is measuring against moved the market while he sat on the tag.

Earlier this offseason, the Seattle Seahawks signed wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba to a four-year extension worth $168.6 million. The average of $42.15 million a year made him the highest-paid receiver in NFL history.

The Atlanta Falcons also inked wide receiver Drake London to a four-year extension at $141 million on June 2. That deal can reach $150 million and carries $100 million guaranteed.

Spotrac’s model projects Pickens somewhere around $30.8 million a year, which would slot him behind both.

A Career Year In His First Season With Dallas

Pickens is starting to establish himself as one of the top receivers in the NFL, especially after his debut season with the Cowboys.

In 17 games, he made 93 catches for 1,429 yards and 9 scores. Those were all career highs, and the yardage total ranked third in the league.

He earned second-team All-Pro honors and his first Pro Bowl nod, then took Offensive MVP at the Pro Bowl Games in San Francisco on Feb. 3.

He also had some very strong seasons during his Pittsburgh Steelers tenure, including a 1,140-yard campaign through the air in 2023 in which he led the league at 18.1 yards per reception.

What Comes Next In 2027

His contract situation will be something to keep in mind this season, especially as January approaches.

The next tag window runs from Feb. 17 to March 3, 2027, and a second tag on Pickens would cost Dallas roughly $32.8 million, per ESPN’s Seth Walder. The Cowboys have not signed a first-time franchise player to an extension since Dez Bryant in 2015.

Pickens reported to training camp in Oxnard on July 27. Dallas opens the preseason August 15 at Seattle at 7 p.m. CT.