Cowboys' George Pickens reportedly makes mandatory minicamp decision amid absences

While Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens signed his franchise tag worth roughly $27.3M for the 2026 season, Pickens had remained away from the team for voluntary springtime workouts. 

According to Jon Machota of The Athletic, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer confirmed while speaking with reporters on Thursday that Pickens hasn't been at the team facility this week. 

Will George Pickens attend mandatory minicamp amid perceived unhappiness?

"We haven’t discussed that, but I expect he’ll be here," Schottenheimer said about whether or not Pickens will participate in on-the-field work during Dallas' mandatory minicamp, which is scheduled to get underway on June 16, per Pro Football Talk's Josh Alper. 

"...I think he's in a good spot," Schottenheimer continued, according to Patrik Walker of the Cowboys' website. "I know he's handling his business, and I know he misses his teammates. We miss him, too. You guys know how we feel about him — we love him, and this is just part of the business."

Schottenheimer not guaranteeing that Pickens will be in attendance for the mandatory sessions understandably raised some eyebrows. However, NFL Network's Jane Slater later shared that she "did speak with a source close to George Pickens who tells me he will be in attendance" for the first day of mandatory minicamp. 

"As you guys know, it's voluntary," Schottenheimer said about Pickens' OTA absences. "I [spoke] with G.P. [Wednesday]. He's got a football camp this weekend that he's doing. Communication has been good. [OTAs] is voluntary, and he's taking care of his business."

George Pickens still doesn't have a ton of options

In May, former NFL star cornerback and current analyst Joe Haden said that "Pickens definitely wants a long-term deal" and that this situation could "get messy" for the Cowboys. However, Pickens likely would have left his franchise tender unsigned if he truly planned on skipping the minicamp. 

Later in May, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones challenged Pickens to "answer all those questions" teams allegedly still have about the 25-year-old. Specifically, Pickens reportedly caused people associated with the Pittsburgh Steelers headaches from 2022 through the 2024 season. Some of those issues seemingly followed Pickens from Pittsburgh to Dallas. 

Jones and Co. have made it clear that Pickens will not receive a multiyear contract extension and won't be traded this offseason. As Alper noted, Pickens will be subject to fines if he doesn't report to mandatory minicamp. 

Assuming Slater is right, Pickens will not be forfeiting any money via such a decision later this month.