George Pickens Not Planning Holdout

“What’s important to me is winning,” he said. “Like I said from the beginning, I always wanna bring a Super Bowl to a group of guys that never had that feeling. That’s really the most important part to me.”

The Cowboys did not do enough winning during a 7-9-1 season last year, but Pickens did his part. After coming over in a spring 2025 trade with Pittsburgh, he went from a solid receiver to a star. Playing his fourth season, the former Georgia standout easily set career highs in catches (93), targets (137), yards (1,429) and touchdowns (nine). He ranked anywhere from third to eighth in the league in all three of those categories and receptions of 20-plus yards (22). Pickens earned second-team All-Pro honors as a result.

The 25-year-old Pickens would have been the No. 1 receiver available in free agency had he gotten there in March, but there was never much chance of that happening. Barring an extension, it was obvious the Cowboys were going to place the franchise tag on Pickens and prevent him from leaving for no compensation. They wound up tagging him for $27.298MM in late February. Pickens signed the tag on April 23, one day after executive vice president Stephen Jones announced the Cowboys would not negotiate a long-term deal ahead of the July 15 deadline.

Pickens put pen to paper after Stephen Jones and his father, owner Jerry Jones, “extended an olive branch” to agent David Mulugheta. It was just last summer that Jerry Jones and Mulugheta sparred over outside linebacker Micah Parsons‘ contract. That battle ended with the Cowboys sending Parsons to the Packers in a blockbuster trade last August. There have not been any trade talks regarding Pickens, though, and all signs are pointing to him spending at least one more year in Dallas.

If Pickens posts another highly productive season in 2026, he will have an even stronger case to become one of the league’s richest receivers on a multiyear pact. Four wideouts are averaging at least $35MM per year. CeeDee Lamb, the Cowboys’ other star receiver, is making $34MM per annum. To this point, Dallas has not been willing to authorize a second exorbitant contract at the position. Perhaps that will change by 2027.