Cowboys sound ready to make massive George Pickens decision after franchise tag report

A Sunday update repeated previous reports and shared that the Dallas Cowboys are expected to place their franchise tag worth around $28.8M on wide receiver George Pickens as soon as Feb. 17. 

ESPN's Adam Schefter added that "the Cowboys want to lock in Pickens for at least next season." However, it sounds like Dallas isn't married to holding onto Pickens if he makes it known he's not thrilled about having his rights retained via the franchise tag. 

Cowboys send message about George Pickens to interested teams

"While the Dallas Cowboys are expected to place the franchise tag on Pickens, a tag-and-trade scenario is considered a possibility," NFL Network insiders Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo reported Sunday. 

"The Cowboys have shown a willingness to trade their star players for significant draft-pick compensation," Rapoport added during that report. "Maybe those players have the same agent in David Mulugheta. I'm just saying, it's an interesting situation to consider."

Last summer, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones routinely declined to negotiate with Mulugheta during what became a lengthy contract saga involving star pass-rusher Micah Parsons. In the end, Dallas traded Parsons to the Green Bay Packers for two first-round draft picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark in late August. As part of the trade, the Packers signed Parsons to a four-year, $188M contract that included $136M guaranteed.

Why Cowboys may be willing to trade George Pickens

ESPN stats show that Pickens ended his first season with the Cowboys ranked eighth in the NFL with 93 receptions, third with 1,429 receiving yards and tied for eighth with nine touchdown catches. However, the 24-year-old who reportedly caused the Pittsburgh Steelers headaches over the first three campaigns of his pro career seemingly wasn't always on his best behavior this season. 

Pickens was benched by the Cowboys for an offensive series after he reportedly missed the team bus, and it was later said that he was fined for being late more than once. Additionally, analysts and other outside observers accused Pickens of running lazy routes during a Dallas loss. 

"Tagging Pickens would be a temporary salve for a Cowboys club that currently sits $29.2M over the salary cap," the NFL Media report mentioned. "Considering Pickens would surely prefer long-term security after a breakout season in 2025, a tag-and-trade could be seen as a win-win for both parties should an extension not come to be."

Last week, Jones insisted he wasn't worried about how Pickens might respond to being tagged. The NFL Network story leads one to believe Jones' confidence may have been a smokescreen regarding a talent who is in the final weeks of his contract and is going to want to get paid this offseason. 

"Dumped by the Steelers, he had a reputation for being a bad apple that was earned over three years, a time in which his team decided that it couldn’t trust him enough to give the big second contract every young player is after (they instead traded for and paid DK Metcalf)," NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated wrote for a piece posted early Monday morning. "So Pickens had every reason to straighten up and fly right — and to his credit, he did. But does that mean he’s permanently turned the corner? The track record of players like this in positions like this is very spotty. So if Dallas intends to wait at least until the [July 15] deadline to extend him, to see how he conducts himself, I think they’d be doing the right thing. "