FRISCO, Texas — The NFL offseason is now in full swing and that means free agency is right around the corner, legal tampering set to begin on March 9. But that also means it's time for the Dallas Cowboys, and every other team around the league, to determine if there is someone on their roster they'll deem worthy of using a franchise tag on for the 2025 season.
This time around, there's only one worthy candidate in Dallas, and his name is George Pickens.
The window to apply the tag officially opens today, February 17, and it closes on March 3, at 4 p.m. ET, with the new league year opening on March 13.
The question in Dallas is a simple one: to tag Pickens, or to get a deal done prior to March 3, to prevent needing it at all, the use of an exclusive tag ensuring no other club can attempt to negotiate with him.
In the last half-decade, the Cowboys have used the tag only five times and four of those instances involved two players: DeMarcus Lawrence (2018, 2019) and Dak Prescott (2020, 2021) tagged in back-to-back seasons, though new contracts were agreed to and signed shortly after the second tag was applied — Prescott's literally one day later, in 2021.
The last player to receive a franchise tag was tight end Dalton Schultz in 2022.
Given the temperature around the building toward Pickens, which is to say everyone within the front office and locker room wants it done, to the point where even All-Pro receiver CeeDee Lamb stated he is willing to rework his deal to help grease the wheels, the foregone conclusion is that the tag will be applied if both sides need more time to negotiate beyond the first week in March.
If that is the route to be taken, it will give Pickens and the Cowboys until mid-July to negotiate a new deal, or the newly-crowned Pro Bowler will receive what's projected to be a fully guaranteed $28.8 million to play under the tag in 2026.
There are incentives for both sides to come to terms on a new deal, but the window for Dallas to decide if they'll need more time to negotiate with Pickens' agent has now opened, and will close in two weeks' time.
