Cowboys' Stephen Jones shares massive George Pickens update after Quinnen Williams extension

Almost immediately after it was learned on Monday that the Dallas Cowboys and star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams had agreed to a three-year, $105.9M contract extension, pockets of Cowboys fans wondered what that deal could mean for the future of wide receiver George Pickens.

Pickens will spend the 2026 season playing on the franchise tag worth roughly $27.3M. While speaking with Tommy Yarrish of the Cowboys' website, team executive vice president Stephen Jones made it clear that he would like to eventually lock Pickens down via a multiyear contract. 

Cowboys keeping George Pickens beyond the 2026 season is "the ultimate goal"

"That's the ultimate goal," Jones said about keeping Pickens beyond the 2026 season. "So it's just a lot of moving parts that we've got to obviously keep playing option quarterback, and we'll see where it takes us."

Per NFL rules, the Cowboys cannot sign Pickens to a long-term deal until after the final regular-season game of the campaign wraps up in January 2027. If necessary, Dallas could retain Pickens' rights for 2027 via the franchise tag to keep him from hitting the open market in March. From there, the two sides could possibly come to terms on a multiyear deal.

Can the Cowboys afford to sign George Pickens after the Quinnen Williams extension?

Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is among the Dallas players who want Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones to find a way to keep Pickens on a long-term basis. That said, Lamb put pen to paper on a four-year, $136M deal in August 2024. Meanwhile, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott signed a four-year contract extension reportedly worth $240M with $231M guaranteed in September 2024. 

Per Jared Dubin of CBS Sports, those contracts shouldn't necessarily prevent the Cowboys from keeping Pickens. 

"It can be done if the team wants to do it and is willing to lay out the up-front cash to make it happen," Dubin wrote about the Cowboys possibly signing Pickens to a new contract in 2027. "Dallas has always had a reputation as a more free-spending team than it actually is, with Jerry and Stephen Jones constantly referencing the fact that there is only so much pie to go around, even for star players. But Jerry does seem at least somewhat open to keeping Pickens (and Williams) in the fold with Lamb and Prescott over the long term."

Prescott recently insisted that Jerry Jones, 83, is acting with "urgency" in pursuit of the Cowboys' first Super Bowl title since they won Super Bowl XXX in January 1996. In "the salary cap isn't real" world of the NFL, the Jones family could find a way to make Pickens happy next year if everybody involved wants to continue the working relationship at that time.