​July 15 is an important date on the NFL calendar; it’s the deadline for any franchise-tagged player to agree to a long-term deal with their respective team or else play the season under a one-year guaranteed salary. For the Dallas Cowboys, this date has brought plenty of drama throughout the years.This season, there is no such angst for the Cowboys, even though they have a star player they’ve tagged in wide receiver George Pickens. The team chose to franchise Pickens after his breakout season and decided early in the offseason that they were going to let the 2026 campaign play out instead of trying to sign their second-team All-Pro to an extension.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPickens went along with the plan and signed the tender in April, guaranteeing his $27.3 million for the season. That harmony between the two parties rendered July 15 as just another day on the calendar.It hasn’t always been that simple for the Cowboys, who love to bring the contract theatrics with their franchised players. In the last 15 years, the Cowboys have used the franchise tag 10 times on seven players, six of whom ended up playing out the one-year guaranteed contract.Pass rusher Anthony Spencer was the first one to get tagged and not work out a long-term deal in 2012, a move which was repeated in 2013 as the two parties went down the same road again. Spencer was the first Cowboy to be tagged in back-to-back years, but it would become a theme.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWR Dez Bryant was the next to be tagged, but the two sides wound up working out a deal just before the July 15 deadline.The next franchise tag was used on defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, who was tagged in consecutive years in 2018 and 2019. After failing to agree to an extension, Lawrence played under the tag in 2018, but the sides did come together on a long-term deal the following April, avoiding any July drama.Dallas used the tag for the third straight year in 2020 when they tagged quarterback Dak Prescott. A new deal was never worked out and Prescott played under a one-year deal, which became a cause for concern for the Pro Bowl QB after he suffered a compound fracture and ankle dislocation in Week 6 that season. Prescott was tagged again in 2021, but the sides worked out a four-year extension before free agency began.Tight end Dalton Schultz was the next man franchised, and he played under the one-year deal during the 2022 season.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRunning back Tony Pollard completed the improbable six-year run of the Cowboys using the franchise tag in 2023. There never seemed to be any real effort put into getting a long-term deal done with Pollard, so he played on the tag that season.No team uses the franchise tag like the Dallas Cowboys, and most times they have struggled (or declined) to get long-term deals done with their designated player by the July 15 deadline. The middle of July has brought some unnecessary stress to the organization in the