{"id":849400,"date":"2026-04-02T14:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T14:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849400\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T14:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T14:38:14","slug":"george-pickens-contract-negotiations-adam-schefter-predicts-challenging-talks-between-dallas-cowboys-wr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849400\/","title":{"rendered":"George Pickens contract negotiations: Adam Schefter predicts challenging talks between Dallas Cowboys, WR"},"content":{"rendered":"

In February, the Dallas Cowboys placed their franchise tag on wide receiver George Pickens<\/a>, ensuring he stays with the team for at least one more season. The Cowboys and Pickens could void the franchise tag by agreeing to a long-term contract this offseason. They have until July 15 to do so.<\/p>\n

After all, if the Cowboys don\u2019t sign Pickens to a long-term contract this offseason, they may be staring down a hefty price next offseason due to league-wide inflation. During an appearance on Get Up<\/a>, ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter discussed the Cowboys\u2019 plans for the star wideout.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a tough contract to figure out in my mind, because he is due the franchise tag number of $27.3 million right now,\u201d Schefter said on Monday. \u201cYou\u2019ve got CeeDee Lamb<\/a> making an average of $34 million a year. We\u2019ve seen some of these wide receiver contracts. Jaxon Smith-Njigba<\/a> comes in over $40 [million]. Puka [Nacua]<\/a> is going to want right in that vicinity. These numbers are going up. The Dallas Cowboys are not going to want to pay George Pickens more than CeeDee Lamb. He\u2019s going to want as much he can get.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s on the franchise tag. They\u2019re not close to a long term deal right now. I\u2019m just telling you it\u2019s going to be a challenging negotiation for both sides. \u2026 How many franchise or transition players have we seen through the years who didn\u2019t get the long-term deal that they wanted, who dragged it out to the start of the season, who came in, who suffered a muscle strain, or went through the season disgruntled because they didn\u2019t get the long-term deal?\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Cowboys could ultimately save money by signing Pickens to a long-term contract this offseason, franchise owner Jerry Jones is wary of such deals. In fairness, they\u2019ve burnt him in the past.<\/p>\n

In 2023, the\u00a0Cowboys\u00a0signed cornerback Trevon Diggs<\/a> to a five\u2013year, $97.00 million contract extension. Diggs tore his ACL just two weeks into the following season. Diggs returned for the 2024 campaign, but was ultimately sidelined again due to a groin injury.<\/p>\n

In October 2025, Diggs was placed on injured reserve due to lingering concussion symptoms. On Dec. 30, the Cowboys waived the former All-Pro.<\/p>\n

Although Pickens hasn\u2019t shown any signs of slowing down, the Cowboys will be hesitant to open their checkbook. On the flip side, it wouldn\u2019t be easy for the Cowboys to let Pickens walk.<\/p>\n

Pickens was traded to the Cowboys last offseason after spending the first three seasons of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. In his debut campaign with the Cowboys, Pickens recorded 93 catches for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns this past season. Pickens\u2019 1,429 receiving yards were the third-most in the\u00a0NFL<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In February, the Dallas Cowboys placed their franchise tag on wide receiver George Pickens, ensuring he stays with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,229,257,2461,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-849400","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-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116335627793474725","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849400","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=849400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}