NFL insider sends warning to Cowboys about using franchise tag on George Pickens

A recent report indicated that the Dallas Cowboys using the franchise tag on wide receiver George Pickens before the March 3 deadline to do so would serve "as a placeholder to get a deal done before the mid-July deadline without outside interference." 

Such an update suggested that Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones is confident that Pickens won't react negatively to having his rights retained via the tag. During Thursday's edition of the ESPN "Get Up" program, NFL insider Jeremy Fowler seemed to send a bit of a warning to Jones regarding Pickens' unsettled future. 

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"The Dallas Cowboys are going to franchise tag him, most likely," Fowler said about Pickens. "That puts him on the books for $28.8M, which is a huge number, but probably not his market value. He's going to need something with a three in front of it on a per-year average. Whether Dallas is willing to do that is now the question. This could be a situation that gets messy because if they tag him, he probably won't sign it. He's comfortable making this uncomfortable a little bit, unafraid to play hardball." 

Fowler added that this situation "could drag out for the entire offseason," similar to the contract saga involving Jones and star pass-rusher Micah Parsons from 2025. The Cowboys eventually traded Parsons to the Green Bay Packers for two first-round draft picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark this past August. 

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Jones understandably doesn't want to lose Pickens after the 24-year-old recorded 93 receptions for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns in his first season with Dallas. That said, concerns about tardiness and other issues that hovered over Pickens during his Pittsburgh Steelers tenure (2022-2024) haven't entirely disappeared. 

The Cowboys reportedly fined Pickens for "being late to things," and he was benched for an offensive series after he allegedly missed the team bus. Pickens' in-game efforts also came into question multiple times during the campaign. 

On Thursday, former NFL player and current analyst Damien Woody advised the Cowboys to use the franchise tag on Pickens. 

"I would basically say, 'Show me again, because I'm not dismissing the years that you spent in Pittsburgh,'" Woody explained. "It's one thing to do it in a contract year. You're traded over in a contract year from the Pittsburgh Steelers, and you put up that type of season. I still need to see you do it again before I fully commit long-term to a player like George Pickens."

Former NFL quarterback and current analyst Tim Hasselbeck agreed with Woody. 

It remains to be seen how Pickens will react if he is on the franchise tag when the new league year opens on March 11.