Where George Pickens' 2026 Salary Cap Hit Ranks Among Cowboys' Biggest

Using the franchise tag on George Pickens was the right move, but it also means a huge cap hit on the Dallas Cowboys' 2026 payroll.

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens. | Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

The only down side to having wide receiver George Pickens play out the 2026 season on the franchise tag is the impact it has on the Dallas Cowboys' cap space.

Pickens' franchise tag price comes in at $27.2 million, and every penny of that amount counts against the Cowboys' salary cap. Had Dallas signed Pickens to a multi-year extension, the team could've lowered his upcoming cap hit.

In terms of where Pickens' 2026 cap hit ranks on the Cowboys is concerned, it's the second-highest behind quarterback Dak Prescott, who accounts for $43.5 million this year.

Pickens and Prescott are two of three Cowboys players with a cap hit north of $20 million, with the other being defensive lineman Quinnen Williams, who is on the books for $21.6 million.

In all, the Cowboys are sitting with $8.1 million in cap space, so they have some wiggle room to make another move, although Dallas will also need money to operate throughout the 2026 campaign.

Among wide receivers across the NFL, Pickens ranks sixth with his cap number, which is five spots higher than fellow wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.

The more costly but right move

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

While costly, the Cowboys still made the right move in slapping the franchise tag on Pickens.

There was no way the Cowboys could hand Pickens a lucrative, long-term deal after only one year. The mercurial wideout has to prove his improved behavior is here to stay and he won't revert back to the problem he was for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

We saw a flash of his issues in 2025, when Pickens was benched for a drive in Week 11. It was later revealed that Pickens had missed the team bus for the contest.

If Pickens wants any hope of landing the big contract he's seeking, whether that be from the Cowboys or another team, he must be even more well-behaved in 2026.

Will the Cowboys extend Pickens in 2027?

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The Cowboys have multiple options with Pickens in 2027, the first of which is letting him walk in free agency to get a compensatory pick.

Dallas could also slap the franchise tag on Pickens once again, which would leave the team with two options: extend or trade.

A tag-and-trade scenario only makes sense if the Cowboys think they can get a better pick than the comp pick formula would net them.

Dallas would also have to be confident there will be trade interest for Pickens otherwise they will either have to absorb another big cap hit in 2027 or potentially have a disgruntled Pickens, who could very well hold out in that scenario.

Extending Pickens still feels like the least likely scenario because it would be a bad financial decision for the long term because Dallas will have a large chunk of its cap space wrapped up in two wide receivers when you include Lamb, who is going to be seeking a contract extension of his own in the next few years.