Jerry Jones Praises George Pickens, Describes Franchise Tag as 'Win-Win' for Cowboys, WR

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones offered strong praise on Tuesday for wide receiver George Pickens, who will play this season on a $27.3 million franchise tag.

Jones, who spoke to reporters from Oxnard, California, where the Cowboys will begin training camp on Wednesday, called the franchise tag a potential "win-win" for Dallas and Pickens, per comments relayed by Jon Machota of The Athletic.

"He's a valued part of our aspirations and our potential success," Jones said.

"The combination that he has with the other talent on the team, I think will make you feel pretty positive about what we've got a chance to do.

"I hope that he comes out here and is the most prolific, successful receiver in the NFL this year. And how would you like to be a free agent and with his credentials and step out there and have a year like that? I wish all of that because if that happens, that (would be) good for us.

"This can be a very win-win thing that we've done here, us and George being on the team. Make no mistake about it, George could be a Cowboy for the rest of his career and that'd be a long time. Make no mistake about it. This (franchise tag) just fit for us and thank goodness it fit for him and we got it done."

Pickens arrived in Dallas in May 2025 via trade after playing four years with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He enjoyed his best NFL season yet in 2025, catching 93 passes for 1,429 yards and nine receiving touchdowns. The receiving yardage total ranked him third in the NFL.

Needless to say, Pickens is deserving of a long-term deal, but the Cowboys held the franchise tag option and used it, keeping him in town for one more year.

Pickens sat out of voluntary offseason team activities, but he signed the tag in time to participate in mandatory minicamp. He said all the right things to reporters once there.

"Like the tag and all that, it's just football first," Pickens said after Day 1 of minicamp, per ESPN's Todd Archer. "So, definitely play football first, kind of like I did last year, and then worry about [the contract] ... Well, let my agent worry about it really."

Pickens also said, in part, per Garrett Podell of CBS Sports: "What's important to me is winning. Like I said from the beginning, I always want to bring a Super Bowl to a group of guys that never had that feeling. That's really the most important part to me."

Now Pickens is getting ready for training camp as the Cowboys hope to bounce back from a 7-9-1 season. Dallas just scored the seventh-most points in the NFL last year, so the offense is likely in good shape. Pickens is in position for another big year, so this could be a win-win as Jones said. Pickens can go off again and get paid, and the Cowboys can benefit from his great play.

From a team-wide standpoint, the Cowboys will improve if the defense does.

The Cowboys allowed the most points in the league, so the defense must get better for Dallas to take a big step forward.

They did make some big moves this offseason, though, adding a new defensive coordinator (Christian Parker from the Philadelphia Eagles), a pair of first-round draft picks (safety Caleb Downs, edge-rusher Malachi Lawrence) and some veteran talent (e.g. Rashan Gary, Dee Winters and Jalen Thompson). They'll also get a full season from Quinnen Williams, acquired midseason from the New York Jets.

Dallas' season starts Sunday, Sept. 13 at the New York Giants.