FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Dallas Cowboys receiver George Pickens is planning to sign the $27.3 million franchise tag after the club declared it wouldn't negotiate a long-term contract this offseason, two people with knowledge of the decision said Thursday.
Pickens has yet to sign the one-year, fully guaranteed contract but intends to put the issue to rest as the Cowboys go into the NFL draft, the people told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the signing isn't official.
The move by Pickens comes a day after executive vice president of personnel Stephen Jones said the Cowboys planned for Pickens to play on the tag this season. The sides would have had until July 15 to try to reach agreement on a long-term deal.
By signing the agreement, Pickens can be fined for not showing up at mandatory minicamp in June or for training camp in July. But getting under contract allows the 25-year-old to participate in the offseason program, which starts Monday.
Pickens, acquired last offseason in a trade with Pittsburgh, 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.
There is incentive for Pickens to take the guaranteed money under the tag because it's a huge payday compared to the total earnings of $6.8 million on his four-year rookie deal.
Quarterback Dak Prescott and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence played a season under the franchise tag within the past eight years for Dallas before reaching long-term deals. Tight end Dalton Schultz and running back Tony Pollard also played under the tag before leaving in free agency the next year.
Jones said the “newness” of Pickens' tenure with the Cowboys was a factor in the decision to stick with a one-year deal for now and not a longer contract.
Pickens’ talent was on display during three seasons with the Steelers, but so were enough instances of petulant or indifferent behavior for then-coach Mike Tomlin to question his maturity.
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.
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FILE - Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens (3) runs a route during an NFL football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings, Dec. 14, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he was weighing a taxpayer-funded takeover of Spirit Airlines with the intent of reselling the struggling budget carrier after oil prices drop.
The president confirmed his continued interest in offering Spirit a financial lifeline after a lawyer told a U.S. Bankruptcy Court that the airline was in advanced talks with the U.S. government on a financing deal that would allow Spirit to emerge from Chapter 11 protection.
“They have some good aircraft and good assets, and when the prices of oil goes down, we’ll sell it for a profit,” Trump said, speaking at an unrelated Oval Office event. “I’d love to be able to save those jobs. I’d love to be able to save an airline.”
Trump stoked speculation of a deal to save Spirit on Tuesday when he encouraged a buyer to rescue the airline and suggested the federal government could help keep it afloat.
The White House has attempted to blame Spirit’s predicament on the Biden administration, which in 2023 sued to stop JetBlue Airways from buying Spirit for $3.8 billion. A little more than a year before Trump replaced Joe Biden as president, a federal judge in Dallas blocked a proposed Spirit-JetBlue merger, saying it would drive up airfares for passengers.
Trump said he had “a smart person” in mind who could potentially run Spirit and that he believed the airline could get back on solid financial footing.
“And they have some very good slots too, which are pretty valuable,” the president added, referring to scheduled times allocated for airlines to take off or land at airports when demand exceeds available capacity.
Spirit has struggled with losses for years. The airline filed for Chapter 11 protection in November 2024 and again in August 2005. With the Iran war driving up jet fuel costs for all airlines, creditors earlier this month expressed doubts about Spirit’s ongoing viability, raising the possibility the airline recognized for its bright yellow planes would be forced to sell its assets and cease operating.
Before Trump's comments about the government buying the airline outright, Marshall Huebner, a lawyer with Davis Polk who is representing Spirit, said during a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing in New York that government financing would a reorganization possible and help Spirit be more competitive.
Details of a potential deal were shared with all three of the company’s primary creditor groups, Huebner said.
It was not immediately clear how a federal acquisition would differ from the terms that were under discussion. The size and terms of the financing aid were not shared publicly. The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, both reported an amount of $500 million that would give the government an option to acquire a sizable stake in the airline, which has its headquarters in Florida.
Earlier this week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy voiced skepticism about the government stepping in to keep Spirit alive. In a CBS interview that aired Tuesday night, Duffy questioned whether a deal would set a broader precedent.
“Then who else comes to my door?” he said, referring to other airlines potentially requesting government aid. “The question will be, can we do anything to save Spirit and make it viable, or would we be putting good money into a company that inevitably is going to be liquidated?”
Several lawmakers, both Republican and Democrats, also balked at the idea of a bailout. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas wrote on X on Wednesday that a deal for Spirit would be a “terrible idea.”
“If Spirit’s creditors or other potential investors don’t think they can run it profitably coming out of its second bankruptcy in under two years, I doubt the US Government can either,” Tom Cotton, a senator from Arkansas, posted. “Not the best use of taxpayer dollars.”
The union that represents the airline's pilots, on the other hand, voiced “strong support” for a rescue deal.
“Spirit is the reason so many Americans can afford to visit family, travel for work, or take a vacation,” said Capt. Ryan P. Muller, chair of the Spirit Airlines ALPA Master Executive Council. “When Spirit enters a market, fares go down.”
Spirit’s relatively young fleet has made it an attractive acquisition target. But previous buyout attempts from budget rivals like JetBlue and Frontier were unsuccessful both before and during Spirit’s first bankruptcy.
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Madhani reported from Washington. AP writers Josh Boak in Washington and Rio Yamat in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
FILE - The tail of a Spirit Airlines Airbus A320 is shown as the plane prepares to take off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Jan. 19, 2021, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
