INDIANAPOLIS – With the Cowboys about to start contract talks with pending free agent George Pickens, coach Brian Schottenheimer expressed optimism his star receiver is with the team long-term.
“I hope,” Schottenheimer said Thursday from the NFL scouting combine. “Everything, I’ve been around George from the time he got here … I knew this guy is a competitor and he loves football, so I hope so.”
The Cowboys are expected to place a franchise tag on Pickens, projected at $28 million, but it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll show up for the offseason program. Last year, when star pass rusher Micah Parsons was entering contract talks, with a year remaining on his deal, Schottenheimer asked him to report to offseason work on the first day, which he did. Eventually Parsons conducted a training camp hold-in and requested a trade that was granted.
“You know, this is going to play out the way it’s supposed to play out,” Schottenheimer said. “GP loves football and my relationship with GP doesn’t change. Just like it didn’t change with CeeDee (Lamb) or Dak (Prescott) or those guys who were going through certain things. It’s all part of the process. It’s the business side of it. Hell, I was talking to CeeDee last night. It doesn’t change.”
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