With the Cowboys’ season now deep into rigor mortis, many have already started focusing on the 2026 offseason. What does Dallas need to add or change to make next year better than this one? It’s a multi-faceted
conversation, but no one topic has more impact on the others than whether or not the team re-signs WR George Pickens.
With 2025 being the last year on his original Steelers contract, Pickens is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this March. After 92 catches, 1,420 yards, and nine touchdowns this year, plus whatever he tacks on in the finale, and his first Pro Bowl trip, Pickens will easily be the top option in next spring’s WR market. He will have just turned 25 before the start of the new league year and avoided most of the character concerns from his Pittsburgh days while in Dallas.
With Ja’Marr Chase just getting $40 million per year from the Bengals, and CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson at $34-$35 million on their recent deals, a truly free market for Pickens is going to be rich. That he’s only had the one breakout year in Dallas, compared to the instant and sustained success of those other guys, could bring down the price some. But it only takes one team willing to pay that amount to get a deal done, and someone usually is.
Teams with starting quarterbacks still on cheap rookie deals, like the Bears, Giants, or Titans, would make lots of sense to chase Pickens. Or if veteran Mike Evans finally moves on from Tampa Bay, the Bucs may want to throw that money into a new franchise receiver. And that’s just a quick, superficial sampling of potential suitors; plenty more can, and will, be there if Pickens is allowed on the open market.
If the Cowboys want to prevent it, they can use the franchise tag. Over The Cap currently projects a $28 million tag for WRs in 202, which would be a cash value steal for Dallas based on the numbers we mentioned before. But while a multi-year deal gives you flexibility to work the salary cap hit down, the downside of that franchise tag is it’s a hard, finite amount. It would be the full amount directly off your cap, 100% guaranteed. And, as we’ve seen in the past, it doesn’t always lead to the best relationship with the player.
Clearly, at least from a roster management perspective, this is the straw that stirs the drink in 2026. If you let Pickens go, WR suddenly becomes a major need and potentially a first-round priority in the draft. Ryan Flournoy is a neat story, but do you really want him as WR2 next year? The duo of Pickens and Lamb is what made this Dallas offense so potent, and it will need to be again as the Cowboys are facing another year of renovation on defense.
If you keep Pickens, that will limit moves elsewhere. If Javonte Williams can parlay his breakout year into a solid market, Dallas may not be willing to match other offers. They’d likely look for another Williams-like reclamation project while also hoping that they can get something out of Malik Davis, Jaydon Blue or Phil Mafah. There’s also the big question of how they handle the offensive line, where the notion of running it back with Tyler Guyton and Terence Steele as the starting tackles now borders on foolish. Even smaller financial issues, like keeping Brandon Aubrey at what’s sure to be a peak amount for kickers, could be impacted by what’s left after a new Pickens contract.
The posts and articles about how Dallas handles business in 2026 are already in full swing, but it’s hard to talk about much until we know what they do with George Pickens. Keeping him won’t be cheap, and letting him walk doesn’t exactly free up money. He only counts $3.7 million against the cap now, so re-signing him at anything close to market value means a significant cost change in just one asset. Clearly, this one decision will have a tremendous ripple effect throughout the rest of the offseason.
