After a career year, George Pickens is soaking in his first Pro Bowl trip while standing at a major crossroads. The 24-year-old just wrapped up the final season of his rookie deal and now sits as one of the most attractive names on the entire free-agent board. While quarterback Dak Prescott wants Pickens around long-term, the Dallas Cowboys wide receiver shares where things stand with his contract talks.

Pickens appeared on DLLS Sports and was asked directly if any real discussions about free agency had started.

“No, not yet; we’ve been going through a lot of the Pro Bowl,” George Pickens said. “Like, we’ve just been letting stuff float around. But I feel like March 11th, around March, when the free agency kind of opens up, it’ll be more debacles, more talks, and stuff like that.”

However, while Pickens relaxes with the best players in the league, the NFL calendar keeps pushing forward. The franchise-tag window opens in late February and stretches into early March, with unrestricted free agency following shortly after. Meanwhile, Pickens sits at No. 1 on PFSN’s Top 100 pending free agents list. Because of that, if the Cowboys want to keep him off the open market, a long-term extension or a tag must be decided quickly.

Still, the franchise tag itself is not something Pickens is stressing over.

“I ain’t even thought about that because it’s been so much, kind of like you said, like his money and some of the space that he had,” Pickens said. “I just wait on them. That’s all I really do. And chill with the guys.”

Still, given how he played, it clearly makes sense for the Cowboys to lock him up. In 2025, George Pickens finished third in the NFL with 1,429 receiving yards, while also hauling in 93 passes and scoring nine touchdowns.

As a result, he earned second-team All-Pro honors and his first Pro Bowl nod. On top of that, PFSN’s WR Impact metric gave him an 88.4 score, ranking him third among all receivers behind Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

More importantly, Pickens was central to everything the Cowboys’ offense did. He accounted for 32 percent of Dallas’ receiving yards and posted five games with at least 100 yards, including two in November. Before arriving in the Big D, he totaled 2,841 yards across three seasons in the Steel City.

All of that explains why Prescott has been vocal about keeping him.

Dak Prescott wants Dallas to tie down George Pickens

While enjoying Pro Bowl practices in San Francisco, Dak Prescott made it clear what sits at the top of the Dallas Cowboys’ offseason checklist. Prescott stressed how important it is to keep the receiver central to the offense.

“We’ve got to get one of our guys signed and make sure that we take a big step on offense as well,” Prescott said.

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“The guy out here who doesn’t have a contract. It doesn’t matter whichever way that they got to do it; he’s an important piece of this offense, an important piece of what we’re trying to do. I’ll leave it to those guys. Obviously, if I need to get involved, I’ve said it before, I will. But I’m confident in Jerry Jones and everybody who makes those decisions and how much he means to us.”

Pickens arrived in the Big D last offseason after the Cowboys swung a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers that essentially cost a third-round pick. As a result, Dallas fielded one of the more productive offenses in 2025. The Cowboys ranked 12th in PFSN’s Offense Impact metric and averaged 24.3 points per game during a 7-9-1 season that fell short of the playoffs.

Interestingly, as per Athlon Sports, Pickens’ camp, led by Athletes First agent Trevon Smith, had earlier targeted a deal around $30 million per year. However, after this season, that number has definitely increased.

For comparison, Ja’Marr Chase of the Bengals sits atop the market with a $161 million deal averaging $40.25 million, while Vikings star Justin Jefferson leads all receivers with $110 million guaranteed.

So, the Cowboys can also use the franchise tag, projected at roughly $28.8 million for receivers when it opens Feb. 17. And yes, Jerry Jones will lead on negotiations, just as he has before. So for now, all eyes on the Cowboys’ front office remain on how this unfolds from here.