What Cowboys' George Pickens contract decision means for potential trade rumors originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Dallas Cowboys chose to keep George Pickens around for the 2026 NFL season.

But on a franchise tag, there's a lot of twists that could still arrive in this story.

Of note: Cowboys executive Stephen Jones told reporters on Wednesday that Pickens will play the season ahead on the tag, not on any kind of impending long-term deal that would still be negotiated.

#Cowboys COO Stephen Jones tells reporters that WR George Pickens will play under the franchise tag this season."There won’t be negotiations on a long term deal.” The tag is $27.3M and it’s unclear when Pickens will even show up. pic.twitter.com/QvcztXRIOX

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Pickens will be with Dallas when Week 1 rolls around, barring some kind of shocking offseason request or behavior.

But with no long-term deal, there's a chance Pickens isn't with the Cowboys by the end of the season.

Dallas will have a good offense and should score plenty of points, but the defense will have to step up to keep the record respectable.

If the Cowboys happen to scuffle to a bad record by the trade deadline, Pickens would become a trade candidate.

By that point, the franchise tag would essentially be operating as a one-year deal, an expiring contract. Those are the guys that get moved by bad teams, especially ones that don't plan on signing their guy back.

It's a bit of a bold move by the Cowboys not to latch Pickens into a new contract. But it could be good news for a different team down the road if trade potential turns into trade reality.

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