Cowboys WR George Pickens officially signs franchise tag

Sep 28, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens (3) celebrates in the end zone after he catches a pass for a touchdown during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images You can put all the drama to bed. For now, at least.

It was reported on Wednesday afternoon that George Pickens has officially signed the franchise tag that the Dallas Cowboys placed on him earlier this offseason. The value of it is just south of $28M for this season. George Pickens has signed the franchise tag, according to a source.

— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) April 29, 2026 There has been some, um, fanfare around this situation for the better part of a week. In case you were unaware here is what happened over the last seven days: Wednesday, April 22nd: Stephen Jones says during the Cowboys’ pre-draft press conference that Pickens will play the 2026 season on the tag and that the team is not going to negotiate with him Thursday, April 23rd: It was reported that Cowboys leadership (Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones) reached out to David Mulugheta, who represents Pickens, to extend an olive branch of sorts. This was important/notable given that Mulugheta represents Micah Parsons and all of the, um, issues that those negotiations had last year.

Later on Thursday: About an hour before the NFL draft started it was reported that Pickens was going to sign his franchise tag. Given that it made no real sense (as far as his leverage is/was concerned) many wondered whether the Cowboys were going to trade Pickens before/during the draft. They obviously did not.