What George Pickens' Arrival At Minicamp Means For Dallas Cowboys WR Competition

George Pickens is in the building for the Dallas Cowboys' mandatory minicamp. Here's what it means for the team's wide receiver competition.

Dallas Cowboys receiver George Pickens. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

After months of uncertainty, we have our answer for whether or not George Pickens will be in attendance at the Cowboys' mandatory minicamp this week.

According to ESPN's Todd Archer, Pickens is indeed in the building as players report on Monday and there will be no holdout.

"With the Cowboys holding their mandatory minicamp this week, George Pickens has arrived at The Star today to take his physical, per source. By taking part in camp, he avoids a fine," Archer said.

There was still some uncertainty surrounding Pickens' status, as he did not confirm to the team nor the media that he would be in the building for the first mandatory portion of the offseason.

That said, it was always expected. After all, Pickens wouldn't have signed the franchise tag if he planned out holding out, as doing so would have incurred fines.

What Pickens' arrival means for WR competition

Former Buffalo Bills wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Well, the most obvious thing to point out is Pickens' spot on the depth chart is not going to be up for grabs. Had Pickens decided to hold out from minicamp, the odds of him being traded would have increased significantly.

Another thing to note is that, according to head coach Brian Schottenheimer, Pickens isn't going to have a full workload because the team will ease him back in.

"He's obviously a great athlete but we'll be smart, but there's plenty of things he can do from the mocks to the walkthroughs and get him back into the system," he said. "Again, if we're cautious it's just because we want to be cautious. It's not because we don't think he's not working. We think he's putting in the work and preparing to have a helluva year."

With Pickens not taking part fully in practice, that means one of the guys battling for a depth role behind Pickens, CeeDee Lamb and Ryan Flournoy will get run with the ones.

During OTAs, both Marquez Valdes-Scantling and KaVontae Turpin ran with the first-team offense when Pickens and Lamb were out. Perhaps Jonathan Mingo will get thrown into the mix if he's healthy. Mingo was battling a groin injury during OTAs.

While Pickens being limited gets guys like Turnpin, MVS and maybe Mingo more first-team looks, his showing up to Dallas' minicamp doesn't impact the wide receiver competition that much. Pickens is locked into his spot on the depth chart and Dallas just needs to figure out WR4 and beyond.