George Pickens' 2026 season likely to be his Cowboys swan song after Quinnen Williams, Zay Flowers contracts

The Dallas Cowboys and their fan base need to treasure Pro Bowl wide receiver George Pickens while they still can because the 2026 season will likely be his last in Dallas. 

While that is an incredibly gloomy thought early on in training camp, the time on the NFL calendar when hope springs eternal for all of the league's 32 teams, it's a realistic conclusion given the continual uptick in the wide receiver contracts market and what Dallas chose to prioritize: extending All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams on a reported three-year, $105.9 million deal with $101 million in total guarantees and $63.35 million fully guaranteed at signing.

The Baltimore Ravens inked two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Zay Flowers to a reported four-year, $140 million extension on Aug 4. prior to the start of his fourth NFL season. That deal is identical to Minnesota Vikings 2022 NFL Offensive Player of the Year wide receiver Justin Jefferson's in both years and total contract value, with Jefferson earning $2 million more than Flowers in guaranteed money, $110 million to $108 million. In June, the Atlanta Falcons re-signed wide receiver Drake London, Pickens' 2022 NFL Draft classmate, to a four-year, $141.054 million extension with $99.87 million guaranteed, making him the third-highest-paid receiver in the league. 

Pickens, meanwhile, is locked in on the franchise tag, which will pay him $27.298 million fully guaranteed in 2026 after the Cowboys decided not to engage with him and agent David Mulugheta in long-term contract talks this offseason. That's puzzling with Pickens fresh off producing a career year with 1,429 yards receiving and 9 receiving touchdowns on 93 catches. Ranking third in the entire league in receiving yards earned the 25-year-old the first Pro Bowl and All-Pro selections (second team) of his career. Neither Flowers nor London has registered as gaudy a receiving yards total as Pickens did last season. 

He leads the trio in career receiving yards (4,270) and career yards per reception average (16.0), while London has the edge in career receptions (309) and a narrow lead in career receiving touchdowns (22). Pickens' 21 career receiving touchdowns are one behind his 2022 NFL Draft classmate. Translation: Pickens can now demand more money than both Flowers and London on a long-term deal with a straight face. That's a significant problem for Dallas for a multitude of reasons, despite Jerry Jones feeling like Pickens having to prove it again on the franchise tag is a win-win situation for both parties. 

"This can be a very win-win thing that we've done here: us, George and George being on the team," Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said at Dallas' opening training camp press conference. "Make no mistake about it: George could be a Cowboy for the rest of his career, and that would be a long time. Make no mistake about it. This [the franchise tag] just fit for us, and thank goodness it fit for him, and we got it done."    

The love between Pickens and Jones is mutual ... until the two sides have to sit down at the negotiating table again next offseason. 

"Super excited. I'm always super happy when someone thinks highly of me, so shout out to Jerry," Pickens said on July 30, via The Athletic. 

* Career high 

Waiting to extend Pickens, rather than doing so when trading for him as a somewhat distressed asset in May of 2025, has come back to bite them. The talent was always there, and in 2025, Pickens showed how prolific he can be with a quarterback of Dak Prescott's caliber, rather than the mediocre carousel of passers Pittsburgh paraded through its franchise from 2022 to 2024. 

Will Dallas pay Pickens?

Now that Williams is under contract with the Cowboys for the next five seasons, Dallas can get creative with how they structure or spread out the four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle's salary cap hits. This deal could, in theory, give the Cowboys the wiggle room to squeeze a new contract for Pickens into their salary cap beginning in 2027. Will Jerry Jones be willing to do that though when Pickens' price on a new deal could potentially end up being similar to CeeDee Lamb's with another Pro Bowl campaign in 2026?

Playing the waiting game led Dallas to re-sign their present-day No. 88 to a four-year, $136 million extension with $82 million guaranteed back in 2024. Delaying those negotiations in tandem with Pickens puts the Cowboys in a position where they may feel like they have to choose between paying Lamb or Pickens. Dallas puts a premium on homegrown players they choose to extend, and Lamb has been everything the Cowboys have hoped for: he's developed into an All-Pro, five-time Pro Bowler who is also a team captain. Lamb isn't going anywhere, and there is a world where Jerry and Stephen Jones could attempt to get a deal done with Pickens. 

Lamb himself is literally begging the Jones family to do what it takes to keep one of the NFL's most electrifying wide receiver duos together for the foreseeable future. Doing so would force Jerry and Stephen Jones to put up a high level of up-front cash spending on their roster, something they have resisted doing in years past. However, 2026 could perhaps be a new era in Dallas on that front. According to OverTheCap.com, the Cowboys $390.61 million in active cash spending is the second-most in the NFL in 2026 behind only the Baltimore Ravens' $393.54 million figure. 

"I'm sure we can make a way," Lamb said, via Yahoo Sports. "I know it's going to be a little crazy, but I know we can make a way for this one. Listen, this is my advocation: '@ Jerry, can you please figure out a way? Let's figure it out. I don't care what needs to happen. Let's figure it out and it's going to get you a couple more championships.'"  

Next offseason, if the Jones family ends up reverting to their typical, conservative spending approach, the Cowboys will likely end up either tagging and trading Pickens or allowing him to walk in free agency in exchange for a third-round compensatory draft pick, thanks to their inability to get ahead of the fast-evolving wide receiver market. Either outcome is deflating because Dallas successfully identified a high-level talent who could reach new heights within their high-powered offensive ecosystem. Choosing to procrastinate on addressing his long-term contractual future could lead to him ending up like Parsons: another All-Pro-caliber talent Dallas developed, going on to crush it with another NFL team for the long haul.