Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says the Dallas Cowboys have long-term plans for wide receiver George Pickens. But what those look like is the biggest mystery ahead of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t![\"Dec](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/USATSI_27818614-scaled.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDec 14, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens (3) warms up before a game against the Minnesota Vikings at AT&T Stadium.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKevin Jairaj-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
If you thought the Dallas Cowboys would reveal anything new on the George Pickens front at the NFL Owner Meetings, you were sadly mistaken.<\/p>\n
And yet, one comment from owner and general manager Jerry Jones has made headlines over the past 24 hours or so: \u201cWe have long term plans for George Pickens.\u201d<\/p>\n
That message alone has many hoping a long-term deal gets done. But is that what it really means? I think not. Let\u2019s break it down.<\/p>\n
The A to Z Sports NFL mock draft simulator offers a deeply customizable and data-driven experience with never-before-seen features.\u00a0Try the mock draft simulator today<\/a>, before the 2026 NFL Draft arrives!<\/p>\n Long-term plans doesn\u2019t translate to extension now<\/p>\n Yes, it is noteworthy that the Cowboys keep insisting they want Pickens for the long haul. Especially on the heels of the Micah Parsons trade\u2014which was preceded by rumblings about mixed feelings regarding his attitude in the building.<\/p>\n Despite the concerns on Pickens\u2019 behavior in his Pittsburgh Steelers days, the Cowboys appear confident that isn\u2019t a problem in Dallas.<\/p>\n That matters.<\/p>\n However, Jerry wanting George around for a long time doesn\u2019t necessarily mean they\u2019re in the same page in negotiations for a multi-year. And it\u2019s the owner\u2019s comments on the franchise tag could reveal their playbook\u2014and their vision of a \u201clong-term\u201d plan for Pickens. <\/p>\n If the Cowboys using the franchise tag on Dak Prescott in consecutive years wasn\u2019t proof enough that they don\u2019t view it as something to fear, Jones left no doubt about it on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe franchise tag is an integral part of all teams,\u201d Jones told reporters<\/a>. \u201cBut certainly an integral part of our strategy over the next two or three years as we look at how to keep the best players we can have relative to the cap.\u201d<\/p>\n If the tag is a part of their vision in the next few years, an important question is for whom? <\/p>\n A quick glance at the Cowboys roster suggests Pickens is the top candidate for the tag \u201cover the next two years.\u201d Sure, they could use it on kicker Brandon Aubrey, but it\u2019s much easier to strike a deal at the top of the kicker market than it is at wide receiver.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s why the Cowboys could be motivated to use the tag on Pickens: If they were to tag the wide receiver in consecutive years, they\u2019d be paying him at $30 million per year. That average would rank him below seven wide receivers today.<\/p>\n With multiple top receivers like Jaxon Smith-Njigba signing extensions with around $33-35 million per year in new money, that\u2019s a good deal. Sure, the tag is tough on the salary cap but it\u2019s not like the Cowboys are ever big spenders in free agency anyways.<\/p>\n That is to say, the Cowboys\u2019 long-term vision for Pickens could indeed be keeping him around. But it doesn\u2019t indicate it has to be through a long-term deal. At least over the next couple of years, it\u2019s likely they turn to the tag. <\/p>\n With that being said, if they allow Pickens to play under the tag in 2026 and 2027, the receiver will hold all the leverage come 2028 as long as he continues to ball out\u2014and if it comes to that, it will be nearly impossible to extend him to a long-term deal unless they hand him a blank check for him to write any number that comes to mind. <\/p>\n \t\t\t Dallas Cowboys News<\/p>\n The Dallas Cowboys need a linebacker, and head coach Brian Schottenheimer knows it. He also happens to be a big fan of a free agent who could alleviate his team\u2019s problem. <\/p>\n George Pickens<\/a> Jerry Jones<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says the Dallas Cowboys have long-term plans for wide receiver George Pickens. But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":848529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,229,257,2461,7,467,2883,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-848528","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","14":"tag-jerry-jones","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116333010079275804","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848528","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=848528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simulator-4.png\")
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