Wide receiver George Pickens isn’t taking the approach most NFL players typically choose during contract negotiations. He attended mandatory minicamp and is also expected to report for training camp later this month while preparing to play the 2026 season under the $27.3 million franchise tag. With camp approaching, head coach Brian Schottenheimer already knows a couple of areas in which he wants the Dallas Cowboys receiver to improve.

“He’s not just going to live at [the X receiver]. He doesn’t like that anyways,” Schottenheimer said about Pickens lining up in the slot. “We want to put him in the slot some, we want to get him isolated to the front side.”

Pickens had the best season of his career in his first year with the Cowboys. But the receiver didn’t line up that much in the slot in 2025. In fact, if we compare him to WR1, CeeDee Lamb, who lined up in the slot just under 35% of his snaps, Pickens lined up in the slot just under 8% of his snaps.

In the 2026 season, however, Schottenheimer and the Cowboys’ coaching staff will have better expectations from Pickens when it comes to the slot. At the same time, Pickens will also be asked to improve in one key area, where he already excelled in the 2025 season: In slants against man coverage.

“How do we complement things that we know he’s so good at, that the whole league knows, that the whole world knows, but we’ve got things off that. He’s a fun tool to mess around with,” the head coach said during the minicamp.

Pickens led the league in slant route receptions, yards, first downs, yards after catch, and contested catches. Meanwhile, he recorded 19 receptions for 292 yards on slant routes from Week 1 through Week 13, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. His best performance came against the Kansas City Chiefs, when he recorded seven catches for 112 yards and a touchdown, with four catches for 73 yards on slant routes.

Heading into the 2026 season, the Cowboys want the receiver to double down on his slant routes. Last but not least, if there’s one other area where the Cowboys would like George Pickens to step up is to perform in the absence of CeeDee Lamb. Lamb didn’t have a struggling season in 2025, as he recorded 75 receptions for 1077 yards and 3 touchdowns.

However, against the Detroit Lions in Week 13, he had just five catches on nine targets for 37 yards. During the same game, he suffered an injury. Subsequently, he missed the second half of the matchup as the criticism followed from his poor performance. That’s why the Cowboys would like to have Pickens stepping up if Lamb struggles or goes down with an injury.

So far, the receiver has already developed good chemistry with quarterback Dak Prescott. Ahead of the upcoming season, meanwhile, Prescott has also shared how he hopes to build that connection with Pickens once they take the field together.

Dak Prescott has a brief answer when asked how he and George Pickens can improve

The Cowboys failed to make the postseason in 2025 largely because of their struggling defensive unit. The offense, meanwhile, turned out to be one of the strongest sides in the league with Dak Prescott putting up another strong season, complemented by his wide receiver duo George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb.

But while Prescott has years of experience playing with Lamb, it makes you wonder how he would improve his chemistry with Pickens in the 2026 season. When the quarterback was asked, he had a brief answer.

“Every ball gets completed,” Prescott said. “Every ball that I throw gets completed. That’s my standard.”

Prescott finished the 2025 season, throwing for 4552 yards and 30 touchdowns. Pickens, meanwhile, had career-high numbers in receptions, yards, and touchdowns, as he caught 93 receptions for 1429 yards and 9 touchdowns. Whether the QB-WR duo will keep the momentum in 2026 remains to be seen.