{"id":765991,"date":"2026-02-21T04:05:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T04:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/765991\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T04:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T04:05:14","slug":"report-george-pickens-seeking-at-least-30-million-per-year-in-new-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/765991\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: George Pickens seeking at least $30 million per year in new contract"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the Dallas Cowboys reportedly plan to place the franchise tag on George Pickens<\/a>, they could still sign him to a new contract if they do so. As for what a new deal could look like, that\u2019s becoming clearer.<\/p>\n

Pickens is seeking at least $30 million per season in his next deal, according to the Dallas Morning News\u2019 Calvin Watkins<\/a>. For comparison, the franchise tag is valued at roughly $28 million and is fully guaranteed. ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter said the expectation is the Cowboys will use it on Pickens<\/a> before he hits free agency.<\/p>\n

The franchise tag window began Feb. 17, meaning Dallas has until March 3 to use it. The tag can either be a way to start negotiations about a new contract \u2013 would be able to shed the tag and sign a deal \u2013 or limit his options in free agency.<\/p>\n

However, NFL Network\u2019s Ian Rapoport indicated the Cowboys could entertain offers for their star players and listed Pickens\u2019 situation as potentially one to watch<\/a>. In addition, ESPN\u2019s Jeremy Fowler said it\u2019s not necessarily a sure thing that Pickens will sign the franchise tag. He said the situation could get \u201cmessy<\/a>,\u201d though he said the Cowboys would prefer to keep him rather than trade him. <\/p>\n

\u201cPickens is unafraid to play hardball here,\u201d Fowler said Feb. 19 on Get Up. \u201cI don\u2019t expect him to sign that franchise tag any time soon. He and his representatives will probably sit back. Maybe he could miss some offseason workouts and play that whole song and dance, so Dallas has to decide. Are they willing to pay him market value on a long-term deal that could be above $30 million per year?\u201d<\/p>\n

Pickens played the last year of his rookie contract with the Cowboys this past season after coming over in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He had a huge season, leading Dallas with 93 receptions for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns to earn a Second Team All-Pro selection.<\/p>\n

Pickens\u2019 future has been a major point of conversation throughout this week at both the Pro Bowl and on Radio Row ahead of Super Bowl LX. He formed quite the duo with\u00a0CeeDee Lamb<\/a>\u00a0with the Cowboys in 2025. Keeping that together would provide important continuity for\u00a0Dak Prescott<\/a>\u00a0and the rest of the offense.<\/p>\n

In fact, Lamb went so far as to say\u00a0he\u2019d consider restructuring his contract<\/a>\u00a0to bring George Pickens back, if it came down to it. That speaks to the former\u00a0Georgia<\/a>\u00a0star\u2019s importance to the Cowboys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, if it\u2019s necessary. Honestly,\u201d\u00a0Lamb said<\/a>\u00a0when asked if he\u2019d be willing to defer money or restructure. \u201cI\u2019m pretty good, but I know he\u2019s going to get every penny he deserves here in Dallas.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While the Dallas Cowboys reportedly plan to place the franchise tag on George Pickens, they could still sign…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,229,257,2461,7,12819,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-765991","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-cowboys","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-cowboys","11":"tag-dallascowboys","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-george-pickens-19-hoover","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116106646288873217","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}