Cowboys get unexpectedly bad George Pickens news about contract, franchise tag originally appeared on The Sporting News.
Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Just last week, it was reported that George Pickens was all set to sign his franchise tender.
That would keep him with the Dallas Cowboys for the 2026 season, under a franchise tag contract with a predetermined salary.
Except well, the NFL Draft has come and gone, and ESPN’s Todd Archer is reporting that Pickens hasn’t signed anything yet.
George Pickens has not yet signed the franchise tag tender with the Cowboys.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) April 27, 2026
Archer goes on to clarify in the replies that the news isn’t that Pickens is refusing to sign but that he simply hasn’t yet.
If you dig into the receipts here, this is really confusing.
Archer wrote this on Thursday, April 23:
“A day after the Dallas Cowboys revealed they would not enter into negotiations on a long-term deal, wide receiver George Pickens will sign his franchise tag tender, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Thursday. The move guarantees Pickens will make $27.3 million this season, and he will report to the mandatory minicamp in June and training camp or be subject to fines. It also opens up the possibility of Pickens being traded, although executive vice president Stephen Jones said that won’t be the case.”
Archer did add in that report that it hadn’t been signed yet, and apparently nothing has changed.
Of note, Pickens has to sign the tender to be eligible to be traded.
If the Cowboys still want to sign Pickens to a long-term extension, that can happen even after he signs the franchise tender.
This mostly sounds like a situation where the timeline is a bit wonky but the outcome may still be fine.
But until Pickens signs, it’ll be a bit odd the order in which this was all reported.