Does Cowboys' Brian Schottenheimer expect George Pickens to attend voluntary workouts on the franchise tag?

As of the final Monday of March, the Dallas Cowboys seemingly are in no hurry to sign wide receiver George Pickens to a multiyear contract after they used the franchise tag to retain his rights for the 2026 season. 

That said, some have wondered if Pickens could remain away from the team when offseason workouts get underway on April 20. While speaking with reporters on Monday, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer suggested he doesn't know if Pickens will participate in portions of the offseason program while on the tag. 

Cowboys: George Pickens situation will "play out the way it plays out"

"And I haven't pushed that on him," Schottenheimer said about Pickens, per Todd Archer of ESPN. "I mean, again, we're all going through the process. It's almost April. We're still a couple weeks away. It's going to play out the way it plays out. Again, it's all voluntary. We'll see where it goes."

The Cowboys acquired Pickens from the Pittsburgh Steelers last spring, and he then performed like a long-term franchise WR1 as he recorded 93 receptions for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns over 17 games. However, the 25-year-old who was allegedly guilty of a "litany of violations" while with the Steelers reportedly caused the Cowboys some headaches during his one campaign with the NFC East club. 

Schottenheimer indicated that Pickens and the Cowboys remain open to continuing their working relationship. 

"Hey, look, GP loves it here. We love GP," Schottenheimer explained. "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."

Brian Schottenheimer, George Pickens have talked about this during the offseason

The Cowboys have until the July 15 deadline for teams to sign tagged players to a contract extension to work something out with Pickens. While Schottenheimer seemingly has spoken with Pickens during the offseason, such conversations apparently weren't about when or if the talented playmaker will show up for work. 

"What I learned about him [in 2025] was he likes to be moved around," Schottenhiemer added about Pickens. "And we kind of learned that when [fellow receiver CeeDee Lamb] was out, quite honestly, because CeeDee's been the guy we've moved around. So when we had that stretch where he went crazy, we were moving him around. So he's excited about that. He's looking forward to that."

Whether or not Pickens is "looking forward" to it enough to report for voluntary workouts shall be seen.