Free agency is fast approaching. This is the first big step for teams heading into the 2026 season. Hopes are reborn and dreams are born as players with expiring contracts begin to join other teams.
The Dallas Cowboys, like every other team, will look for external free agents, but will also try to retain some. They began retaining one star, George Pickens, early on, placing the non-exclusive franchise tag on him.
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Now they need to complete the process. They could just say that’s it and let Pickens play on the franchise tag. The downside is that this will cost Dallas approximately $27.3 million against the 2026 salary cap.
They could reach a long-term deal that would alleviate the 2026 cap hit and keep Pickens in Dallas for the foreseeable future. The only problem with that is that Dallas is sometimes particularly stingy on these issues, and they already have a highest-paid wide receiver on the team.
Another solution is to let Pickens go if another team signs him to an offer sheet and picks up two first-round picks. It is very unlikely performing as the first two players is a high price. But another team could tempt Pickens with a big long-term deal, to the point where Pickens would request a trade. The Cowboys could actually work out a trade deal in this case and send him away.
What will be the right path? Well, according to Cowboys fans, they’re all almost equally likely.
It’s a pretty even split. Pickens’ fate for 2026 is still unknown, but it doesn’t appear the Cowboys fan base will be shocked by any of the options.
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