Cowboys Have ‘Zero Interest’ In Trading George Pickens

“There’s zero interest in a trade for George Pickens. Zero interest,” he said via the Athletic’s Jon Machota.

After the Cowboys informed Pickens and his camp, led by agent David Mulugheta, that they did not plan to negotiate an extension on the franchise tag, Pickens elected to sign the tender, putting him formally under contract. 

That would seem to indicate there will be far less drama with him staying away from the team in a contract holdout than was expected. Jones said Pickens’ camp hadn’t told him he would be at mandatory minicamp but that was his expectation. 

“Certainly, that’s what we expect,” he said. “I mean, anytime a player signs a contract and the expectations, as we hold for all of our players, is when you sign up and you’re under contract then you’re expected to do what your teammates are doing. And certainly, you know, go back to Dak (Prescott), I know (Pickens) is working with Dak and those type of things, but at the end of the day, you know, we will see how this thing plays out.”

Jones went on to praise Pickens’ potential in the offense and how well he fit in his first year, even if it didn’t make the Cowboys willing to take the plunge on a big-money deal. 

“I think George Pickens has a chance to be competing with CeeDee (Lamb) to be one of the best receivers in the league. And, to me, what makes our offense so dynamic is to have two guys like that,” Jones said. “We were having great visits with [new DC] Christian Parker about the trouble that it gave his defense when he was in Philly, and the challenges it causes other defenses when you have two dynamic receivers like CeeDee and George.

“Certainly, it was our first year with George. Couldn’t have gone better,” he added. “I think George has a chance to, believe it or not, get better. And playing alongside CeeDee there, it keeps everybody honest and, you know, they aren’t the only weapons on our team. … Obviously the expectations are he’ll be in the building working alongside his teammates and working to create an identity for this football team to have success.”

Dallas franchised Pickens at a figure of $27.298 million fully guaranteed for the 2026 season. 

Pickens, 25, was a preseason All-American second-team selection in 2021 and a second-team preseason All-SEC at Georgia. The Steelers used the No. 52 overall pick on him in the 2022 NFL Draft.

He was in the final year of a four-year $6,752,177 rookie contract that included a $2,090,674 signing bonus when he was traded to the Cowboys after the draft for a future third-round pick. 

Dallas franchised Pickens at a sum of $27.298 million fully guaranteed for the 2026 season.

In 2025, Pickens appeared in all 17 games for the Cowboys and caught 93 passes for 1,429 yards receiving and nine touchdowns.