With just a day to go before the Dallas Cowboys open their mandatory minicamps, the biggest gap in the offense was the George Pickens-shaped hole all offseason. There were doubts initially if the player would be available for the minicamps, but the latest reports suggest good news for the Cowboys’ offense.

“The plan is for him to be there,” Hill Jr. said on the DLLS Sports podcast. “And obviously, we won’t know if it’s until Tuesday, but that’s the plan – for him to be at Minicamp.”

Just hours after Clarence Hill Jr. shared this update, ESPN’s Todd Archer dropped another one. Per Archer, Pickens has reported to The Star for his physical ahead of the camp. That’s a breath of fresh air, which officially ends the silence from Pickens and his camp so far.

Even when the Cowboys were wrapping up their OTAs last week, Pickens was absent. On June 11th (final OTA day), Pickens was running a youth camp at the Cabaniss Athletic Complex while his teammates prepped for the season. Even then, when a reporter asked if he’d show up at the minicamps, Pickens avoided the question entirely.

“Pickens gave a shrug with an ‘uhhhh’ before a representative of his agency cut him off to say he would not be answering any more questions,” Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram wrote.

That silence had a financial stake, too. Since Pickens signed his $27.3 million franchise tag, his attendance at the mandatory minicamp and training camp was non-negotiable. If he didn’t show up at the three days of mandatory minicamp, he’d rack up a $107,911 in fines. Even though Pickens, as Clarence Hill Jr. put it, “don’t mind being fined,” it’s still a big relief for the team and its hopes for January football.

But even as Pickens shows up now, the Cowboys won’t dump a whole lot of workload on him right away.

“He hasn’t been here. We don’t know what kind of shape he’s in. He hasn’t been a part of the offense. We know they (Pickens and Dak Prescott) haven’t really thrown together since at least April, if not March,” Hill Jr. added. “So the Cowboys are going to be cautious. They won’t throw him into any real drills because the goal is for him to be ready for training camp. But if he shows up, the good news is that he’s here. And if he’s here for minicamp, he will be here on day one [of] training camp.”

Head coach Brian Schottenheimer had also confirmed this stance when he spoke to the press during the OTAs on June 9th.

“We’ll be smart,” Schottenheimer had said. “I have no questions that he’s working. But what you don’t want to do is put a guy in here when you don’t know exactly where he’s at. Because, let’s be honest, we don’t truly know much running he’s doing. .. If we’re cautious, it’s just because we want to be cautious. It’s not because we don’t think he’s working. We think he’s putting in the work and preparing to have a hell of a year.”

Franchise quarterback Dak Prescott recently revealed that they’ve had “two to three” throwing sessions together away from The Star this offseason. While the quarterback seemed happy with his receiver, the offense this season hasn’t built anything with him yet. Showing up at camp will be the first step towards Pickens syncing into the system again.

Pickens finally made up his mind, but the contract drama, weeks of silence, and the refusal to lock in minicamp have all caught up to him as well. The perception’s changing, and a Cowboys legend who helped carve out the 90s dynasty isn’t happy with how Pickens has handled things.

Darren Woodson not impressed with George Pickens

Former Cowboys safety Darren Woodson came to Dallas in 1992 on the back of the Herschel Walker trade and locked in the 90s dynasty. He watched owner/general manager Jerry Jones build championship rosters around players who showed up, even if they weren’t happy with their contracts. On the Doin’ Alright podcast on June 12th, he drew that line straight to Pickens.

“Not everybody’s built to lead. They’re just not. It’s just not innate,” Woodson said. “And this is how Super Bowl teams become Super Bowl champions: when your best players, regardless of what their contract situation is, are part of it. They’re still a part of it. They’re going to show up. We’re going to fight through the contract.”

Woodson’s point is clear: showing up when it’s uncomfortable makes you a leader, but talent alone doesn’t. Pickens had $27.3 million guaranteed money coming to him, and still wouldn’t commit to minicamp. For Woodson, that was a deal breaker because it hurt Pickens’ standing with the Cowboys Nation.

“Just show up, dude,” Woodson said. “That’s the hardest thing to teach any young player. … Good things happen when you show up and do the right thing. Just come to work. If you don’t show up, now everybody has a perception change: “Well, he doesn’t show up. He’s not a team player. He really doesn’t care about us. You have all this little talk, side talk going on. Just show up, you quell all that.”

George Pickens is at The Star at last, taking his physical. He’s avoided the fines, but the weeks of silence and the shrugs don’t disappear just because he showed up. Pickens has one year to prove he can be what the Cowboys need. He’s not integrated yet, and they won’t drill him hard. Showing up was step one. The rest is work.