Cowboys use franchise tag on star wide receiver George Pickens

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pickens-george/hA0XUuaQ/"]Pickens[/a], 24, set career-highs across the board last season with 93 receptions and nine touchdowns while also ranking third in the entire NFL with 1,429 receiving yards, earning him Second-Team All-Pro honours. [/p][embed guid="7c15fe14-ad65-4860-a01e-0542b7c7c307" url="https://x.com/NFL/status/2027418447479456163?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]The tag will pay Pickens $27.298 million for the 2026 season. [/p][p]However, it's the non-exclusive tag, which means that Pickens is still able to sign elsewhere should he choose to do so. Other teams will have to present an offer sheet. After such, the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/dallas-cowboys/S8sFw8iL/"]Cowboys[/a] will have five days to match that team's offer sheet. Should another team sign Pickens, the Cowboys will receive "draft-choice compensation equivalent to two first-round picks," [a href="https://operations.nfl.com/inside-football-ops/nfl-operations/nfl-free-agency/franchise-tags/" target="_blank"]according to the league[/a].[/p][p]The Cowboys are now $66 million over the NFL salary cap. However, the team will receive an additional  $22 million in cap space after the NFL announced the 2026 salary cap will be set at $301.2 million, an increase from last year's $279.2 million. [/p][p]Dallas will also have to restructure contracts to get below the cap as well, including deals such as quarterback [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/prescott-dak/KxpJW82T/"]Dak Prescott[/a] and star receiver [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lamb-ceedee/St2fNay8/"]CeeDee Lamb[/a], according to Cowboys reporter Todd Archer. [/p][embed guid="a1205dc9-dd00-4b6c-ab34-641b4c6be55f" url="https://x.com/toddarcher/status/2027479355270525204?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]The Cowboys finished this past season with a 7-9-1 record, ultimately missing the playoffs.[/p][p]They have the 12th overall pick in the first round of the upcoming NFL Draft that begins on April 23rd.[/p]