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The Dallas Cowboys placed the franchise tag on wide receiver George Pickens on Friday, and given that they were expected to do so, this whole thing was really just a formality. Dallas had to get a tag in place by March 3rd or else Pickens would have become an unrestricted free agent, so again this made logical sense.
Placing the franchise tag on Pickens buys the Cowboys time. They now have until July 15th to work out a long-term deal with him, and if they do not, he has to play the 2026 season out on a one-year deal. Technically speaking the team placed the non-exclusive tag on him so he could always negotiate a deal with another team. Dallas has the right to match that offer, and if they do not, then the offering team would owe the Cowboys a pair of first-round picks.
There are a number of ways this can end obviously, and while the future is unknown the past can be instructive in times like this.
Here is the recent history of Dallas Cowboys franchise tags
Over the last decade(ish) the Cowboys have utilized the franchise tag eight times on a total of five players.
- 2015: Dez Bryant
- He and the team landed a deal at the July 15th deadline
- 2018: DeMarcus Lawrence
- He played the season out on the tag
- 2019: DeMarcus Lawrence
- He and the team negotiated a long-term deal after the second tag
- 2020: Dak Prescott
- He played the season out on the tag
- 2021: Dak Prescott
- He and the team negotiated a long-term deal after the second tag
- 2022: Dalton Schultz
- He left in free agency after playing the year out on the tag
- 2023: Tony Pollard
- He left in free agency after playing the year out on the tag
The most apples-to-apples comparison for the Pickens situation is arguably the Dez Bryant one. They both happen to play wide receiver, but the similarities in situation really have nothing to do with that.
You see, both Lawrence and Prescott were players drafted by the Cowboys who they had an obvious interest in retaining. They sort of paved the way for modern times and how players have shrewdly negotiated with the Dallas front office. By all accounts, they each won their respective battles from a contractual standpoint.
Dalton Schultz and Tony Pollard are similar to one another in that it felt obvious from the moment they each got the tag that it was just to ride the year out. The Cowboys never really seemed to have any long-term interest in either of them, but they valued their services for the seasons that they were each tagged ahead of.
While Pickens was not drafted by the Cowboys like Bryant was, it is clear that the Cowboys could benefit from having him around in the future. Pickens is unlike Schultz and Pollard in that sense. He does not have the time equity built up with the organization like Lawrence and Prescott did, and Bryant too to be fair, but this whole thing hardly seems like one where they would tag him again in a year like those two players. Anything is possible, though.
Perhaps the Cowboys will land a deal with Pickens the way that they did Bryant, but it would certainly be nice to not have to go to the 59th minute of the 11th hour like they did with him.