It’s a risk the Cowboys have historically been willing to take, as demonstrated by how they handled the aforementioned situations with Dak Prescott and DeMarcus Lawrence. Neither resulted in a dramatically different cost in terms of average annual salary, but player health — Prescott suffered a season-ending injury while playing on the tag in 2020 — also plays a role in determining market value.
“There’s different scenarios that these guys play under,” Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “They love the football game, the game of football. George is no different. We’re thrilled that George is here and we expect him to have another great year. He was a huge part of the success that we had last year, and that’s not gonna change.”
The Cowboys admitted financial factors are playing a significant part in their decision to have Pickens play 2026 on the tag. They need only to gaze over at the Cincinnati Bengals to see how having two handsomely compensated receivers can affect the rest of the team’s construction.
After trudging through a season in which their defense proved to be their downfall, the Cowboys aren’t interested in handcuffing themselves financially in 2026.
“It’s not easy having two receivers being paid top of the market,” Jones said. “That’s obviously a stretch, especially when you have other great players on your team, a quarterback that’s been here being the highest-paid player in this league for many years now. Certainly, that’s part of it. The other thing is the newness of George being here. I think George has just done an amazing job. He’s exceeded all expectations. … So that’s a plus.
“A lot of these things, they make their way toward a long-term deal, but that’s the biggest part of it. Between the business and the newness of it, I think that’s a big part of it.”
With two picks in the top 20 of this week’s draft, the Cowboys could also find their long-term (and much more affordable) replacement for Pickens. Spending a first-rounder on a position that isn’t quite a need — especially when the defense is begging for more reinforcements — would be another risky play, but it worked out for them in the past when they drafted Lamb while Amari Cooper was on the roster.
“That’s all part of a global picture. … Certainly, you’re always looking at that,” Jones said of potentially selecting a receiver in the 2026 draft. “It’s just like we did when we took CeeDee Lamb. We had some really good receivers on this team, but we took him.
“Certainly, it’d be no different if we look at the board and our number gets called to pick and we’ll make that decision at that point. But we’re certainly not opposed to taking the best player on our board. That’s usually where we’ve had our most success is doing that.”
As is almost always the case, the Cowboys remain a subject of fascination. They could become an even more compelling franchise this weekend.
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