After much fuss this offseason regarding George Pickens’ extension, Jerry Jones’ team signed the wide receiver to a franchise tag. But the one-year, fully guaranteed $27.3 million franchise tag puts Jones and Co. on a timer to make a decision on Pickens after the 2026 season. The fact that the Dallas Cowboys still grapple with clarity surrounding Pickens is what led former Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant to express his frustration.

“I’m not mad if George doesn’t come back,” he wrote on X. “It’s just unfortunate that we can’t figure out what’s happening. I’d love to see him stay in Dallas with CeeDee..but I don’t know. George gotta do what’s best for him!”

Dallas is in a complicated space as highlighted by Bryant. First things first, they had an option of letting Pickens go this offseason but chose to hold on to him for a few more months. That led fans to come to the impression that they would be relying on him more. But the situation is a lot different, which also left Chad Johnson upset. 

“Get him in the ball,” he said on the Nightcap podcast. “Y’all begging for NFL young boy to stay in Dallas doing all this hooping and holling play. Let Pickens stay here. We want him here. And look what y’all doing to him. Hey, had they ain’t got no problem throwing CeeDee [Lamb] 157 balls in one game? Four targets in a four-quarter game. One, two, three, four. Let him go. If he was loafing, you shouldn’t have wanted him then.”

Johnson believes the Cowboys aren’t involving Pickens enough in their passing attack, especially when CeeDee Lamb continues to receive a much larger share of the opportunities. While he stressed the clear divide, Bryant too finds fault with the messy situation in the Cowboys’ camp. 

Head coach Brian Schottenheimer broke his silence on the George Pickens situation, claiming that he wants greater consistency from Pickens because his effort in these less visible aspects of the game can have a significant impact on the entire offense.

“He (Pickens) needs to understand that he impacts us in the running game as well,” he said. “He needs to understand that he impacts us in the running game as well. He’s got to do the same thing in the run game, picking up safeties and blocking corners, just like Javonte [Williams] does, picking up blitzes so he can catch balls. That’s part of the team-first mindset, and GP does understand that. When he’s going, they’re going to play soft inside. When he’s not going, the safeties get pretty good runs at our backs. And that’s got to improve.”  

This is not the first time that Bryant and Johnson took a stand for Pickens. After Schottenheimer’s comments, Johnson called him out for trying to deflect the blame by putting the wide receiver in the bad light. Back then, too, Bryant dialed in. 

“At the end of the day..Pickens is still human,” he wrote on October 23 on X. “He has emotions. The Cowboys only go to him in notable, critical situations and rely on him to make a play..all because of his contract. The psychology behind it is what’s messed up, and it doesn’t work in his favor when the world thinks he doesn’t care… let’s really talk about it.”

The fact that Johnson opened up and Bryant shared Johnson’s take shows how they believe that Pickens is not getting enough opportunity to prove himself. All of this fuels trade rumors. 

Mike Florio is suggesting that the Dallas Cowboys should consider trading George Pickens if a contending team is willing to offer a second-round draft pick.

“If I’m a contender looking for a receiver, I’m calling the Cowboys about George Pickens. It feels like that’s broken now. If they can get a second-round pick — they gave up a third — you move on and think about the future,” Florio said. “You have Ryan Flournoy, who isn’t George Pickens but good enough. Especially if you’re thinking about Tomlin, you don’t want Pickens around.”

ESPN’s Benjamin Solak suggested the Cowboys to “move him before the deadline.”

For now, Pickens’ future in Dallas is in jeopardy.