Stephen Jones, Brian Schottenheimer give latest on George Pickens status

From a player’s perspective, a long-term deal is more attractive because of the security that it gives them compared to the tag, which places them under contract for one season. Jones recognizes and understands their perspective, but also knows using it can help in fielding a team.

“I respect that everybody would like to have a long-term deal,” Jones said. “Obviously, teams around the league use it. Players around the league have played under a tag. It’s a lot of money. But at the same time, I also understand why players want a long-term deal.”

“We’ve had a lot of players here in Dallas, including our quarterback, the most valuable guy to the franchise, has played under a tag. We certainly understand it and respect it, but we also know it’s part of the salary cap and part of putting the team together.”

What the Cowboys also have a track record of doing is signing their franchise tagged players to extensions, which happened with Prescott, Lawrence and Bryant after they were tagged. Schottenheimer stood firm in his belief that Pickens will be in Dallas long-term.

“GP loves it here. We love GP. We have plans for GP to be here for a long time, so we’ll let the business side of this thing play out and see where it goes.” Schottenheimer said.

What does the plan for Pickens look like next season? Continuing to move Pickens around on the field, which Schottenheimer said he learned Pickens enjoyed while CeeDee Lamb was sidelined with an injury. When discussing his chat with Pickens, Schottenheimer added that he had been traveling with Lamb during the offseason and was also working out with Dak Prescott, something Schottenheimer believes will greatly benefit the offense.

“He’s excited about that. He’s looking forward to that. And that’s where, again, the fact he’s working and throwing with Dak and some of the other guys, that to me is more important than anything because you have to come up with that me-to-you factor. You know, Dak’s thrown to CeeDee for however many years so those two guys working together, I think, is going to be huge moving into year two.”