Pickens not attending this week's OTA

8 Only one player who signed the franchise tag for the Dallas Cowboys has been a notable no-show for voluntary offseason activities, and that is wide receiver George Pickens in 2026.
 
The only player who has ever signed the franchise tag who didn’t show up for offseason workouts! 1 1 1 player only !
 
SteveTheCowboy said:
I don't mean to derail the topic...but it made me think of starting Dak and other expensive assets last game last year. Why did we risk it and why not give other players opportunities. It's still baffles me.
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There can be lots of things that play into the decision.

Competitive spirit.

Bonuses.

Evaluation of starters for next year.

Evaluation of starters for draft decisions.

But I agree with you. Starting Dak was a weird decision. I would have made him call plays, and support the team from a different situation. But that's just me.
 
gimmesix said:
This is the main thing to not like about the tag. I think players need all the time together with coaching that they can get. I also think the less they take part in these things, the more likely it seems that they will suffer a soft-tissue injury. It's like their body needs a buildup for the season.

At the same time, we've already seen players tear ACLs by participating in these drills. Pickens is angling for the biggest contract he can get next year, so he has less assurance than big-time players playing with lots of guaranteed money already coming their way.

We think that $27 million guaranteed should be enough incentive, but when you know that players your caliber are getting $100 million-plus guaranteed, you get a little greedy.
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Also does anyone know what insurance riders are for various parts of the NFL season?

In the decision making there is going to be a price for insurance on the regular season, but the offsesason is covered by clubs and the league. For someone like Pickens he, like many other vets on a tag, purchase additional insurance to offset future losses or a career ending injury.

For his agent this is what he is paid to manage. It doesn't matter how George feels, it is the fiduciary responsibility of Mulugheta to ensure that he fufills his responsibility to advise.

So for me no surprise he is not at the "voluntary" event.
 
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MapleLeaf said:
Also does anyone know what insurance riders are for various parts of the NFL season?

In the decision making there is going to be a price for insurance on the regular season, but the offsesason is covered by clubs and the league. For someone like Pickens he, like many other vets on a tag, purchase additional insurance to offset future losses or a career ending injury.

For his agent this is what he is paid to manage. It doesn't matter how George feels, it is the fiduciary responsibility of Mulugheta to ensure that he fufills his responsibility to advise.

So for me no surprise he is not at the "voluntary" event.
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There is probably a lot more to consider than we know, which is why many players choose not to show up for OTAs and minicamps after they've been tagged.
 
DarkVader33 said:
Doesn’t make sense for him to sign the contract and then miss anything that will cost him money. I think if he was going to hold out, he wouldn’t have signed the tag.
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I guess he could technically sign the tag to make sure he's getting paid with the intent of not participating in anything he doesn't have to to accrue a season and become a free agent next year. Of course, that would be an ill advisable path because it would lower his value as a free agent instead of maximizing it.
 
gimmesix said:
There is probably a lot more to consider than we know, which is why many players choose not to show up for OTAs and minicamps after they've been tagged.
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Only 1 player who has signed the franchise tag for Dallas didn’t participate in offseason workouts! 1 guess who Pickens !
 
Starforever said:
Pickens is fine. He is only a distraction to those that are looking for issues. His participation will happen when necessary.
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Except the entire team is talking about it.

They notice.

Why should they play hard when golden boy doesn’t even bother to show up?

Dude doesn’t care if we win or not. One of the reasons Pitt wanted him gone. Poison.

He just wants more $$
 
DuncanIso said:
Except the entire team is talking about it.

They notice.

Why should they play hard when golden boy doesn’t even bother to show up?

Dude doesn’t care if we win or not. One of the reasons Pitt wanted him gone. Poison.

He just wants more $$
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They should play hard because they signed contracts to play for the team. Pickens wasn’t offered a contract. He’ll be there when he’s required to be there. If he was not going to show up he would not have signed the tag.

At $27.298 million for the season the Cowboys elected to retain Pickens for as little as they were required to pay him. In return Pickens will show up for as little as he’s required to. Jerry may not be the brightest bulb in the marquee, but he had to see this coming.
 
MapleLeaf said:
There can be lots of things that play into the decision.

Competitive spirit.

Bonuses.

Evaluation of starters for next year.

Evaluation of starters for draft decisions.

But I agree with you. Starting Dak was a weird decision. I would have made him call plays, and support the team from a different situation. But that's just me.
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Bonuses. And I have also said in past comments....stats. When looking back on 2025, Jerry doesn't want to see a missed start. Not many will know why..but Jerry wasn't having it. His big star money man... missed a game?

A few more passing yards...maybe a TD or two...might leap frog a ranking slot or two.

Risking an injury in a game you'd really rather lose anyway. See Caleb Downs.
 
KingCorcoran said:
They should play hard because they signed contracts to play for the team. Pickens wasn’t offered a contract. He’ll be there when he’s required to be there. If he was not going to show up he would not have signed the tag.

At $27.298 million for the season the Cowboys elected to retain Pickens for as little as they were required to pay him. In return Pickens will show up for as little as he’s required to. Jerry may not be the brightest bulb in the marquee, but he had to see this coming.
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Yes he did a 1 year contract worth 27 million! Which he signed! There are multiple players there who are on 1 year contracts!
 
Yes he did a 27 million dollar contract! He signed it ! A lot of players are there on 1 year contracts period! You signed it show up !
 
Shannon1 said:
Yes he did a 1 year contract worth 27 million! Which he signed! There are multiple players there who are on 1 year contracts!
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Negotiated contracts. Pickens was given a take it or leave it option authorized in a CBA he never voted for. He elected to be an NFL player so he knows how it works. Too bad for him. Jerry Jones elected to be an NFL franchise owner so he knows how it works. Too bad for him. At least Jerry had input on the current CBA. If Jerry doesn’t like how things work he can sell the team. If Pickens doesn’t like how things work he can go do something else for a living.
 
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