George Pickens is coming off a career-best season for the Cowboys. Now, the team might be looking to trade him. An NFL Network report suggests a 'tag-and-trade' scenario is a real possibility.

"The Cowboys have shown a willingness to trade their star players for significant draft pick compensation," Ian Rapoport said. "Maybe those players have the same agent in David Mulugheta. I'm just saying, it's an interesting situation to consider."

After a breakout season, Pickens and his agent would certainly look to increase his contract, perhaps even to CeeDee Lamb's level, who has a $38 million deal. The franchise tag on Pickens will be placed with a value of $28 million, keeping Pickens with the team while the Cowboys restructure contracts to make cap space.

If contract talks fail, a tag-and-trade for draft picks remains a possibility. After his standout year, finding a deal may not be too hard.

The 24-year-old played 17 games in the 2025 season, scoring a career-best 9 touchdowns for 1429 receiving yards, and 93 receptions. Pickens formed a great partnership with CeeDee Lamb and became a valuable weapon for Dak Prescott.

Recently, Prescott said that the Cowboys must do anything and everything to keep Pickens. "I think it must be done. "I think obviously from Jerry to everybody understands that."

If Dallas wants to make Pickens their franchise WR, they'd better hurry.

Time Keeps Ticking for the Cowboys and George Pickens

Although a major chunk of the Dallas fanbase wants to see Pickens next season, there are complications.

The window for the Cowboys to apply for the tag starts from Feb 17th to March 3rd. Keeping Pickens won't be easy. Although he has expressed his desire to stay in Dallas, the franchise already has a high-priced roster.

It includes veteran QB Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, Tyler Smith, and Quinnen Williams. all having a salary cap of more than $20 million. In fact, Prescott and Lamb alone have $110 million in cap space in 2026.

Owner Jerry Jones expressed his desire to keep Pickens with the Cowboys. 

“He's better than, as far as what he contributed to our team, showing the potential that he could contribute. I'm looking forward to getting things worked out so George can be a Cowboy for a long time."

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Written by

Kalp Thaker

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar