The Dallas Cowboys have officially answered one of their biggest questions of the offseason. Just last week, All-Pro receiver George Pickens was unsure about attending mandatory training camp, but now, he has arrived, and he looks like he's ready to take on 2026.
The Dallas Cowboys have posted on their 'X' account that Pickens is back in the building, confirming Clarence Hill Jr.'s report from Monday morning that Pickens was planning to show up. Pickens would've been fined $107,911 if he had missed the entire minicamp.
Pickens showing up is great to see, but it's even nicer to see Pickens kill an anti-Cowboys narrative from the NFL media. For much of the offseason, they tried to tear Pickens' relationship with the Cowboys apart. Hopefully, this will be the start of a peaceful offseason (cross your fingers).
George Pickens attending minicamp shows the Cowboys can have a peaceful offseason this time around
chat we back pic.twitter.com/9IBOrsmbcW
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) June 16, 2026
As Cowboys fans know, they're all aware of Jerry Jones playing until the last minute (and even later) to give money to the players that earn it, but this time, the NFL media tried so hard to tear apart Pickens and the Cowboys front office, but they're going to have to flip the script now.
Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones said back in late April that the Cowboys were holding off on any long-term deal for now. The NFL media thought it would be another chaotic Cowboys offseason, and to be fair, with the Joneses, it seems like that's always the case. But to be honest, a franchise tag was needed from both sides in this case.
The Joneses and head coach Brian Schottenheimer didn't sweat, and always said they expected Pickens to be in this spot the entire time. In a press conference Tuesday, Shottenheimer said what every Cowboys fan was praying for.
"(Pickens) is fired up to be here...I know he feels about this football team, this locker room, what we're building here, so I'm not surprised to see him, and I'm thrilled he's here."
It didn't help Jones that Pickens put up a breakout season that no one expected, but if we're going to be fair, both parties needed to test each other out a bit more. Pickens needs to prove that he's in for the long run, and Jones knew there was a reason why teams were hesitant to jump on him in the first place. It ended up being a great problem.
The next master plan for the Cowboys was to place the non-exclusive franchise tag on their new All-Pro, meaning that if the Cowboys chose not to match an offer sheet from another team, they would receive two first-round draft picks as compensation.
NFL teams were not likely to match that. Thus, the Cowboys were able to keep Pickens as part of their 2026 project.
Pickens isn't expected to participate in any vigorous workouts, and according to Schottenheimer, he's actually "Coach Pickens" for now. But this is the sign that all Cowboys fans wanted to see. No drama, no chaos, and it flips the media narrative entirely on what could've been a more dramatic Cowboys offseason.
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