Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens signed the non-exclusive franchise tag, but he hasn’t attended the team’s voluntary offseason workouts. It’s likely an indication that he isn’t happy playing on the one-year, $27.3 million tag that is fully guaranteed, and the Cowboys have made it clear they won’t negotiate on a long-term deal this year.
Pickens’ 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns justified the tag, but no other team has moved to attempt a trade with the Cowboys. The Cowboys — and every other team that might be interested in Pickens — is looking for an encore before committing the $30 million-plus per season it’s going to take to sign Pickens long term.
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“This is great from our view,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports. “For him as well, it lets him really extend what he’s got going right now in light of the fact that . . . when we got him, we got him for no other reason than because there was a long-term question. Through next year and this year, he’ll answer all those questions.”
His inconsistency in Pittsburgh was the reason the Steelers offloaded a talented wide receiver for only a third-round pick. His habitual tardiness continued in Dallas, although he lived up to his potential on the field.
Now, it’s figuring out how much a team is willing to commit and for how long.
Nine wide receivers make more than $30 million annually, led by Jaxon Smith-Njigba‘s $42.150 million average.
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The Cowboys expect Pickens, in his second season with Dak Prescott, to show up and show out.
“We will expect more earlier,” Jones told Epstein. “He will expect more. That he not only build on where he got to last year, the preparation will be out there happening as a major part in any series or any game. So I think from the get-go, he will have more to give in the plans of what we’re doing early and late in the season.”
