Free agency is just around the corner. It’s the first big step for teams toward the 2026 season. Hope is renewed and dreams are hatched as players who have expiring contracts start moving to other teams.
The Dallas Cowboys, like every other team, will pursue external free agents, but will also try to keep some of their own. They started early on keeping one star, George Pickens, by placing the non-exclusive franchise tag on him.
Now they must finish the process. They could just say that’s it and let
Pickens play on the franchise tag. The downside to that is it will cost Dallas around $27.3 million against the 2026 salary cap.
They could reach a long-term deal that will ease the cap hit in 2026 and keep Pickens in Dallas for the foreseeable future. The only problem with that is Dallas is notably stingy on these matters at times, and they already have a top-paid wide receiver on the team.
Another route is to let Pickens go if another team signs him to an offer sheet and collect two first-round picks. That is very unlikely to happen as two first-rounders is a steep price. But another team could tempt Pickens with a big, long-term deal to the point where Pickens asks for a trade. The Cowboys could actually work out a trade package in that case and send him on his way.
Which path will be the one? Well, according to Cowboys fans, they are all are almost equally likely.
That’s a pretty even split. The fate of Pickens for 2026 is still unknown, but it doesn’t seem like the Cowboys fanbase will be shocked with any of the options.
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