Cowboys predicted to make $28M George Pickens decision that should precede trade

The Dallas Cowboys' offseason will be an interesting one as the team looks to improve its roster after falling short in 2025.

Among the biggest priorities for the Cowboys will be what to do with wide receiver George Pickens, who just had a career-best year in Dallas before he prepares to be a free agent in 2026.

The Cowboys have a few avenues they can take with Pickens, one of which is putting the franchise tag on him, which would cost about $28 million.

From there, Dallas can extend or trade the veteran wideout without having to worry about his departing for nothing in free agency first.

Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox weighed in on what he thinks will happen and Knox sees the Cowboys using the franchise tag on Pickens.

Dallas may not be eager to give Pickens the sort of long-term deal he'd likely command on the open market. It already has a ton of cap tied to Lamb and Quarterback Dak Prescott. The Cowboys were also willing to trade Micah Parsons because of the cost of adding a third massive salary to the mix.

Pickens would likely command north of $30 million annually as a free agent. The prediction here, though, is that he won't get that opportunity until 2027 at the earliest.

Prediction: Dallas uses the franchise tag on Pickens.

This is the right approach, assuming it ends with the Cowboys trading Pickens. The Cowboys cannot, under any circumstances, commit a lucrative, long-term contract to Pickens.

One reason is because Pickens has a history of behavioral and effort issues, two things we've seen in Dallas.

Granted, Pickens hasn't been as bad as he was with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but we also have to weigh how much of that is because he's in a contract year.

If the Cowboys think those issues are going to magically disappear once Pickens is paid, they're kidding themselves.

Another issue with re-signing Pickens is the Cowboys have a lot of work to do on defense and very limited cap space to get it done. Dallas will be $33 million over the cap before doing anything.

It would be counterproductive to re-sign Pickens when improving the defense is actually the No. 1 priority this offseason.

It was definitely fun to watch Pickens play at the level he did in 2025, but where exactly did that get the Cowboys? Nowhere.

That tells you everything you need to know about what the Cowboys should do with Pickens in 2026.