Stephen Jones: Our expectation is that George Pickens will be here and working

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Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens has signed his franchise tag, but he hasn't landed a long-term deal with the team and the lack of one has led some to wonder if he might still decide to skip some mandatory work periods this offseason. The team's June minicamp is the only part of their program that falls into that category ahead of training camp, which means it is also the only mandatory work before the deadline for Pickens and the Cowboys to come to a multi-year agreement. Pickens would be subject to fines if he did skip that camp and executive vice president Stephen Jones told Adam Schein of Mad Dog Sports Radio on Tuesday that the team expects the wideout to be there while referencing quarterback Dak Prescott doing the same thing after being tagged in 2020. "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." There haven't been any indications that the two sides are making progress toward any longer arrangement and Jones reiterated that the team has "zero interest" in trading Pickens, so the stage is set for more contract talk for Pickens and the team in 2027.