Cowboys' Stephen Jones sends message to George Pickens about playing on franchise tag

Multiple reports throughout March have indicated that the Dallas Cowboys plan to keep wide receiver George Pickens on the franchise tag worth around $27.3M for the 2026 season through the July 15 deadline for teams to sign tagged players to a contract extension.

While speaking with reporters on Monday, Cowboys co-owner and executive vice president Stephen Jones reminded Pickens that the 25-year-old may eventually have to accept playing on the one-year tender attached to the tag. 

Cowboys understand what George Pickens wants, but...

"I respect that everybody would like to have a long-term deal," Jones acknowledged, per Tommy Yarrish of the Cowboys' website. "Obviously, teams around the league use [the tag]. Players around the league have played under a tag. It's a lot of money. But at the same time, I also understand why players want a long-term deal."

The Cowboys have used the tag on quarterback Dak Prescott more than once since they selected him during the 2016 NFL Draft. Prescott challenged Pickens to "bet on yourself" and not let potential contract talks with the Jones family get "personal." 

"We've had a lot of players here in Dallas, including our quarterback, the most valuable guy to the franchise, has played under a tag," Jones continued. "We certainly understand it and respect it, but we also know it's part of the salary cap and part of putting the team together."

Have Cowboys, George Pickens' camp had positive conversations about a deal? 

Also on Monday, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer hinted that there is at least a chance that Pickens will skip voluntary team workouts if he remains on the tag when the offseason program gets underway on April 20. Jones may have said plenty about the state of negotiations with Pickens' camp by how the executive responded to a question about such talks. 

"We're just not gonna comment as we move forward on negotiations on where that stands or anything like that," Jones said.

There's still time for the parties to work something out before Dallas fans should start worrying about Pickens' commitment to the 2026 Cowboys. That said, it could be interesting to see if he offers any public reaction to Jones' comments.