Pickens a no-show at the Cowboys voluntary workouts

The Dallas Cowboys began their voluntary team workouts on Tuesday, Phase 2 of the offseason, minus Pro Bowl receiver George Pickens. The lack of attendance was first reported by Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Pickens, who signed his franchise tag on April 29, had been working out with quarterback Dak Prescott last month. He failed to report for the voluntary individual work with the training staff, and now is sitting out the start of this phase as well.

This has become the norm for players seeking a new contract, who have had the franchise tag applied. Dallas' mandatory workouts won't begin until June 16, so Pickens doesn't yet have a contractual obligation to show up.

Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones believes that shouldn't be the only consideration. Last week, Jones joined Adam Schein of Mad Dog Sports Radio and said he expected to see Pickens at all of their offseason workouts, in the hopes he would follow the example set by his Prescott in 2020 when he was playing on the franchise tag.

“Haven’t been told that. Certainly, that’s what we expect,” Jones said. “I mean, anytime a player signs a contract and the expectations, as we hold for all of our players, is when you sign up and you’re under contract and you’re expected to do what your teammates are doing. And certainly, you know, go back to Dak, I know he’s working with Dak and those type of things, but at the end of the day, you know, we will see how this thing plays out.”

Clearly, Pickens and Jones aren't on the same page. But, since these workouts are voluntary, Pickens's absence isn't a major concern right now. If he decides to skip the team's mandatory workouts, though, the situation in Dallas could shift from cooperative to contentious quickly.