If the Dallas Cowboys couldn’t win with the team they have in 2025, that’s going to make 2026 pretty tough.
It’s tough because the Cowboys’ financial outlook for 2026 shows a team approximately $36 million over the salary cap next year. That means attrition.
It’s no doubt the Cowboys will need to make some tough decisions to field a winning roster – the toughest decision of which will be which player to use a franchise tag on.
The common thinking is the tag will be used on wide receiver George Pickens at an estimated $28 million for 2026. Pickens, on the other hand, wants a massive contract extension which will make him one of the NFL’s highest paid wide receivers.
Another option that hasn’t been entertained to this point would be to franchise tag record setting kicker and 2-time NFL All-Pro Brandon Aubrey. This would cost around $6.7 million, according to Over the Cap.
“Who do you franchise tag if you’re Jerry (Jones), Brandon Aubrey or George Pickens?” The Ringer’s Sal “Cousin Sal” Iacono asked on “The Bill Simmons Podcast” following a 34-26 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 15.
“Aubrey,” Simmons said quickly. “Kickers aren’t even that expensive.”
“You didn’t even blink at that,” Iacono said. “Then you lose Pickens.”
“Okay,” Simmons said. “That’s fine.”
If the last few weeks have been any indication, paying Pickens could end up being a disaster and letting him go in free agency might be the smartest move for Dallas.
Cowboys Received Career Year From Pickens
Pickens, who is just 24 years old, came to the Cowboys in exchange for a 2026 third round pick in May and is in the final season of the 4-year, $6.75 million contract he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers when he was taken in the second round of the 2022 NFL draft.
He’s also having a career year — he’s third in the NFL with 81 receptions for 1,212 yards and 8 touchdowns. Those are all career highs.
Spotrac projects Pickens to have a market value in the range of a 4-year, $124 million contract, which would pay him approximately $31 million per year.
The Cowboys already have 3-time NFL All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb signed to a 4-year, $136 million contract extension he signed before the 2024 season.
Pickens May Have Played Way Out of Big Money
NFL.com puts the Cowboys’ playoff chances at exactly 1 percent, although they have yet to be mathematically eliminated.
The Cowboys could still pretty much control their own playoff fate if it hadn’t been for losses to the Detroit Lions and Vikings the last 2 weeks. Pickens all but disappeared with a combined 8 receptions for 70 yards on 15 targets with no touchdowns in the 2 losses.
What put his future payday in doubt wasn’t his lack of production, however.
It was how he went about doing it that rubbed many experts the wrong way. And may have cost him tens of millions.
“George Pickens seemed uninterested in playing football tonight,” Super Bowl champion cornerback and Amazon Prime analyst Richard Sherman said following the loss to the Lions. “He seemed completely disengaged, he disappeared and half-assed it. Totally unacceptable.”
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