Cowboys share defiant George Pickens message amid renewed trade rumors

Roughly 24 hours after the Dallas Cowboys confirmed that they planned to keep wide receiver George Pickens on the franchise tag through the 2026 season, it was reported that Pickens had agreed to sign his franchise tender.

Some quickly noted that the Cowboys could subsequently trade Pickens before the 2026 NFL Draft wraps up. On Thursday night, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones attempted to silence such chatter. 

Cowboys have "no intention" of making this George Pickens decison

"We have no intention of moving George," Jones directly said, per Patrik Walker of the Cowboys' website. "We're fired up about him signing his [tag], because it means he's ready to come in here and get to work. ... We have zero intention of moving [him]."

It was previously said that "maturity questions" regarding Pickens impacted the Cowboys' decision not to guarantee him money beyond the 2026 season. At least one NFL source suggested to CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones that the Cowboys wanted Pickens' camp "to come to them with an offer" this spring. However, others believed Dallas publicly said that the club would not enter into negotiations with Pickens about a multiyear contract to inform other teams that he could be traded for the right price. 

Pickens is now due to make roughly $27.3M for the upcoming campaign. The Cowboys have seemingly made it clear they don't want to pay him anything close to the money attached to the four-year, $168.6M deal that Seattle Seahawks star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba received earlier this offseason. 

What's next for Cowboys, George Pickens?

Assuming Pickens does sign his franchise tender, that would indicate he has no intention of forfeiting money by sitting regular-season games out this coming September. One report from earlier this month noted that the Cowboys could always retain Pickens' rights for 2027 via the franchise tag. 

As Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio pointed out, such a decision would come in at a "20-percent increase over [Pickens'] 2026 salary: $33.576M. Which is still well below market value."

For now, it sounds like Pickens will once again have millions of reasons to both be on his best behavior and produce top-tier stats for the Cowboys while basically playing in a contract year.