Yep, they did. Pickens signed his franchise tag (1-year, $27.3M) back on April 29, and the July 15 deadline for franchise-tagged players to reach a multi-year extension came and went with no deal (from the George Pickens page). That means he's locked into the one-year tag for 2026, and the Cowboys can't even offer him a long-term extension until after the season ends on Jan. 10, 2027.
On , they noted how Pickens "straight sploded" after getting away from Pittsburgh, but the contract drama did lead to him skipping voluntary OTAs — though he showed up to mandatory minicamp and said he's focused on winning. The team and player will have to revisit this next offseason.