George Pickens was an extremely promising player during his first three years in the league with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was fast, he was big, he could jump out of the stadium, and he had insanely sticky hands. During that time, his 16.3 yards per reception paced the league.
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But because of his seemingly mercurial nature, the Steelers decided to move on from Pickens last offseason. It was arguably one of their worst moves in the last decade. Pittsburgh struggled to get any production at WR2 while Pickens had a breakout season with 93 receptions, 1,429 yards, and nine TDs as the Dallas Cowboys‘ nominal WR2.
But obviously, top 10 in receptions and receiving TDs and top three in yards means a big payday. And while Pickens didn’t get the massive deal he likely craved, the Cowboys did place the franchise tag on him, which means he’ll be paid like a top-five wideout for 2026 at the least. NFL analyst Louis Riddick believes Pickens has earned that right.
“George has an argument for wanting to be paid like a No. 1 wide receiver. He earned that this year,” Riddick said. “Dallas knows that, of course, they know that. But they’re already paying a guy $33+ million per year. It’s not something that really is wise team-building, but they also don’t want to let him go.”
"Teams always know a lot about what it is that would make them hesitant to go ahead and commit long term money, long term guaranteed money to a player than we know."@LRiddickESPN shares his thoughts on the Cowboys franchise tagging their WR George Pickens 🏈 pic.twitter.com/bJ7nYmD4cg
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 27, 2026
Riddick went on to suggest that Dallas’s only giving Pickens the one-year, $28 million franchise tag rather than negotiating a long-term deal has more to do with how Pickens’ attitude and off-field behavior are viewed rather than fellow Dallas wideout CeeDee Lamb’s big, fat contract.
“There’s a certain amount of risk that you assume once you don’t have the carrot dangling in front of a player any longer, and they have secured financial stability,” Riddick argued. “And with George, you think Dallas isn’t considering that? Considering what his past was in Pittsburgh? Of course they are! … This is going to be a long process, a very long process, because there are a lot of concerns on both sides here.”
Riddick and Adam Schefter and other people on the outside believe this is going to be another in a long line of excruciatingly protracted contract negotiations between owner Jerry Jones and a star player. But Jones himself sounds more optimistic than usual.
“I’m talking to George all the time by virtue of my excitement for him,” Jones said. “He’s better than, as far as what he contributed to our team, showing the potential that he could contribute. I’m looking forward to getting things worked out so George can be a Cowboy a long time.”
Lamb signed a four-year, $136 million deal with Dallas in 2024 that pays him $34 million a year, third-most among wideouts in the NFL. When Pickens does sign a deal, we would expect it to be at least in that range, if not even a bit higher, considering what he did last year in his first campaign with Dallas’ high-powered offense.
