NFC wide receiver George Pickens (3), of the Dallas Cowboys, speaks after being named offensive MVP of the NFL Pro Bowl football game against the AFC, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

The Dallas Cowboys placed the franchise tag on George Pickens on Friday, a move that would guarantee the receiver $27.3 million in 2026 while the sides work on a long-term contract.

Dallas used the non-exclusive tag on Pickens, a person with knowledge of the move told The Associated Press, meaning he can negotiate with other teams but the Cowboys can match any offer. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because details of the tag weren’t announced.

The Cowboys had been expected to use the tag on Pickens since last fall when he began to flourish in his breakout 2025 season coming off a trade from Pittsburgh, where his career got off to a rocky start.

The money is guaranteed if Pickens signs the one-year tender. The Cowboys and Pickens’ representatives have until July 15 to agree on a long-term contract that would replace the one-year deal.

Cowboys Executive Vice President Stephen Jones said his dad, owner and general manager Jerry Jones, had a good conversation with Pickens at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. Stephen Jones sounded confident Pickens will play for the Cowboys this season.

“We’re not putting any time frame on this,” Jones told the NFL Network. “We just love that George is going to be back. Jerry had a great visit with him yesterday. (Pickens) was fired up that he wasn’t going to be going anywhere.”

If Pickens signs an offer sheet from another team and the Cowboys decide not to match it under the non-exclusive provision, the club would get the equivalent of two first-round draft picks. Dallas can’t trade Pickens unless he signs the tender.

Pickens, who turns 25 on Wednesday, had career highs in catches (93), yards receiving (1,429) and touchdowns (nine) for one of the best offenses in the NFL last season. Dallas had one of the worst defenses in the league and finished 7-9-1, missing the playoffs for the second year in a row.

The 2022 second-round pick out of Georgia thrived alongside CeeDee Lamb, who is going into the second year of a $136 million, four-year contract that currently ranks him third among NFL receivers with an average annual value of $34 million.

Lamb missed the entire offseason and training camp in 2024 holding out for the deal he signed about two weeks before the season opener.

The Cowboys couldn’t use the tag on Lamb because he was going into the fifth year of his rookie contract. The fifth year is a team option that goes with all deals for first-round picks. Second-rounders have four-year deals, and Pickens earned $6.8 million on his rookie contract.

If Pickens signs the deal under the franchise tag in the next three months, he could be fined for not reporting to the mandatory offseason minicamp in June or training camp in July.

Pickens’ talent was on display during three seasons with the Steelers, but so were enough instances of petulant behavior for then-coach Mike Tomlin to question his maturity.

Ultimately, Pittsburgh decided to send Pickens to Dallas for a third-round draft pick and a swap of late-round selections between the teams.

The Cowboys’ Brian Schottenheimer never took issue with Pickens publicly in his first season as a head coach after a quarter-century as an NFL assistant. But Pickens and Lamb were benched for the first series in Las Vegas after missing curfew following a casino visit the night before the game.

Like Pickens, Williams rejuvenated his career in the 25-year-old’s first season with Dallas. His 1,201 yards rushing were the most for a Dallas back since two-time rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott had 1,357 in 2019.

Money for something

INDIANAPOLIS — The NFL salary cap has topped $300 million for the first time, landing at $301.2 million in 2026 for a $22 million increase over last year.

The cap has increased 40% in just five years, since it dropped coming off the pandemic-altered 2020 season when few or no fans were allowed to attend games.

The numbers were sent to clubs Friday, and teams must be under the salary cap by March 11, the first day of the new league year.

Rapid growth has been expected since the COVID-19 season, and the biggest year-to-year increase of $31 million came from 2023 to 2024.

The cap dropped to $182 million in 2021 from $198 million going into the pandemic season. The increase has been at least $16 million each year since then, with an average increase of $24 million.

Total projected player costs, including benefits, are $378.8 million.

Wide receiver remains the second most lucrative franchise tag at $27.3 million. The quarterback tag is $43.9 million.

Assistant let go

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons dismissed assistant defensive line coach LaTroy Lewis, just hours before he was named as a suspect in a sexual assault case.

The dismissal came shortly after the Falcons said Friday they were looking into allegations that recently surfaced on social media. A direct message seeking comment was sent to Lewis on social media.

The allegations date to Lewis’ time at the University of Michigan, where he served as a graduate assistant for the 2022 season before being promoted to assistant defensive line coach for the next two seasons.

Mendoza the man

INDIANAPOLIS– Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza possesses all the traits NFL teams covet in a franchise quarterback.

He’s smart, mobile, makes fast reads and quick releases. He has a strong arm and prototypical size. He has three years of starting experience and a national championship, too.

But the once lightly recruited Mendoza learned long ago not to take anything for granted. So if the overwhelming favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in April ‘s draft fulfills those expectations, he’ll embrace the pressure to succeed. And if the quarterback-needy Las Vegas Raiders bypass Mendoza, the former Indiana star won’t fret. Instead, the Boston-born Mendoza hopes to steal a page from one of his favorite player’s game plans.

“Whatever team drafts me, I’m grateful — whether it’s the No. 1 pick or whether it’s the 199th pick,” Mendoza said, denoting the very spot Raiders part owner and seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady was selected in the 2000 draft.

Nobody, of course, anticipates Mendoza sliding that far, though stranger things have happened.

Carson Beck began the 2024 season as the favorite to go No. 1 then suffered a late-season elbow injury that required surgery and forced his transfer from Georgia to Miami.

When the league’s annual scouting combine rolled around last February, Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward seemed positioned to go at the top. Ward won that battle, going to Tennessee at No. 1, while Sanders had to wait until Cleveland took him at No. 144.

“Right now, I’m unemployed,” he said. “So this is my job interview and like everyone says, it’s the most important job interview of your life. So right now, I’m just trying to do everything to hopefully get employed.”

New hire in Green Bay

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Cam Achord is taking over as the Green Bay Packers’ special teams coordinator after spending the last two seasons working with the New York Giants.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur annnounced Friday the hiring of Achord, who had been the Giants’ assistant special teams coach from 2024-25. Achord also was the New England Patriots’ special teams coordinator from 2020-23.

The Packers were seeking a new special teams coordinator after announcing on Feb. 17 that Rich Bisaccia was stepping down and ending his four-year tenure in that role.

Green Bay has a history of special teams struggles that preceded LaFleur’s arrival in 2019. Bisaccia was Green Bay’s third special teams coordinator in as many years when he was hired in 2022.

Steelers will fix up Acrisure

From online reports

PITTSBURGH — According to reporting by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Steelers president Art Rooney said Thursday that Acrisure Stadium will be resurfaced for the 2026 NFL season.

The playing surface at Acrisure received low grades in a recent survey of players by the NFLPA.

Rooney told Gerry Dulac of the Post-Gazette the field will be resurfaced with Tahoma 31 Bermuda, a mixture of Bermuda and bluegrass grown on plastic sheets that is cold-tolerant.

“It sounds crazy, but they grow the grass on a plastic sheet first to make sure the roots are growing,” Rooney said. “It’s a different blend of what we have been using. They’ve been using it in other places and it’s been working.”