FRISCO, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys are moving differently as the franchise heads into the NFL's summer break following the conclusion of its mandatory minicamp on Thursday.

Different in Dallas' case means no contract drama. For the first time in years, there's no soap opera involving a star player and a showdown with owner/general manager Jerry Jones over a long-term deal. That's thanks to Pro Bowl wide receiver George Pickens reporting to mandatory minicamp on the franchise tag and indicating that he'll remain with the team through the rest of the 2026 offseason and season.

Last year, Jones' standoff with All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons turned into a hold-in that dragged on until a week before the start of the 2025 season, when a trade sent him to the Green Bay Packers. The Cowboys' 2024 offseason was clouded by contract disputes involving both Pro Bowl quarterback Dak Prescott and All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. Lamb held out of the entire offseason program before re-signing on a four-year, $136 million extension on Aug. 26. Prescott's situation wasn't resolved until hours before kickoff in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns, when he also re-signed on a four-year, $240 million extension.

In 2023, All-Pro right guard Zack Martin held out into training camp before re-signing on a two-year, $36.8 million restructured contract. Prescott was also part of the noise in both 2020 (playing out the season on the franchise tag) and 2021 (tagged again before re-signing on a four-year, $160 million contract), while his longtime friend and former Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott turned an offseason holdout in 2019 into a six-year, $90 million extension signed Sept. 4, just days before the start of that season. 

The 2022 offseason was the only year in the last seven until now in which the Cowboys entered training camp with so little contract drama, a relief for Prescott, Dallas' longest-tenured player and most respected locker room leader.

"Obviously we're used to it, so it wouldn't be absurd to have it, but it is good we won't have that this year," Prescott said Thursday. "It's alright George is going to be there, and I wish he would get the long-term contract, but I'm sure that's all being talked about and discussed behind closed doors. It doesn't necessarily have to happen immediately. Hopefully, these are the last of those questions, and we can get him on some long term whenever it's right."

George Pickens addresses Cowboys contract drama, makes stance on holdout clear

Garrett Podell

Pickens' brief time away from the team early in the offseason and during the Cowboys' organized team activities hasn't dulled the on-field spark he provided in 2025, when his 1,429 receiving yards ranked third in the NFL. Prescott takes his pass catchers on a retreat every offseason during the summer break to build on- and off-field chemistry before training camp, but he doesn't feel he'll need to devote any extra attention to Pickens because the 25-year-old wideout is already good to go.

"Speaking of him … That guy makes it easy," Prescott said with a smile as Pickens walked past the quarterback's media session on his way to the players' parking lot. "You see us just in routes on air out there, but you just go turn on the tape, that guy is going to get separation. He's just different. He understands his leverage. He understands his routes. He understands where I'm looking for him at the catch point, the depth. So yeah, that's going to be a beneficial time. It's going to be great, but we can go throw a lot of touchdowns right now. That guy's ready."

There's only one other contract situation that could potentially ruin the Cowboys' summer of tranquility, and that's linebacker DeMarvion Overshown. The uber-athletic 2023 third-round pick out of Texas is grinding hard in new defensive coordinator Christian Parker's scheme to become Dallas' middle linebacker after spending the first three seasons of his career on the weak side. 

It's also a contract year for the 25-year-old, and he hired super agent David Mulugheta, who represents both Parsons and Pickens, earlier this year. However, after missing a combined 32 games in his first three seasons because of multiple ACL tears, including one in 2024 that also involved tears to his PCL and MCL, Overshown is focused on putting good football on tape and dealing with his financial situation in 2027.

"I got the best knees in the NFL if you ask me. They're brand new. Technology these days is crazy, so I feel great," Overshown said June 9 during OTAs. "I'm not even worried about that [his contract situation] to be honest. I got to play football. I'm going to get paid if I play good football. That's how I look at it. Agent or not, I'm going to let him do his job, but I got to do my job. That's play football, and the rest will take care of itself."

That sentiment from Overshown, along with Pickens' "football first" mentality in 2026, has Prescott heading into the summer break grinning because of the peace surrounding the Cowboys locker room. The smile also stems from the knowledge that Parker has completely overhauled the way Dallas' defense operates. It's a change Prescott clearly appreciates, so much so that he's making sure some of his younger teammates cherish the feeling around the organization.

"It's just exciting," Prescott said. "What we were just talking about with CP, the energy they're bringing on defense, who we are on offense but yet trying to elevate. We're not complacent with anything we did last year. Two units are taking pride in what they do. It's going to be a hell of a camp, just competing against each other. You can feel it, just the culture building. Credit to Schotty and all the things that we've done outside the building or just in the building to better the culture of this team and the brotherhood. So it's very exciting."

Head coach Brian Schottenheimer has been employed by the Cowboys since 2022, when he joined the organization as a consultant, before being promoted to offensive coordinator (2023-24) and then head coach (2025-present). He hasn't been at The Star, Dallas' team headquarters, as long as Prescott, but he knows there's a different kind of quiet around the building this time of year.

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but I think at the end of the day, we're in a good spot. I think we're very comfortable with, like I said, the changes that we've made and then getting those changes up to where they need to be, the standard where they need to be right now," Schottenheimer said Thursday. ... "So is it quieter? I'm not going to say that because you never know what's coming around the corner, man. Shoot, I could be sitting on a beach somewhere and next thing you know your phone starts ringing. ... We'll take it right now."

That quiet is also something Schottenheimer hopes to maintain in training camp in Oxnard, California, as he tries to guide the Cowboys back to the playoffs for the first time since 2023. Dallas plans to arrive at camp on July 27 and take the practice field for the first time on July 29. Schottenheimer's mind will be on celebrating his wedding anniversary at the end of June before shifting back into football mode after the Fourth of July. 

Until then, Schottenheimer, Prescott and the rest of the Cowboys will enjoy the peace and quiet and hope a different offseason produces a different result than the last two years: a return to postseason football.

"I think you try not to get too far ahead of yourself," Schottenheimer said. "We're hopeful because we're confident and we feel like we're preparing the right way. We feel like we've made the changes that we needed to make to fix the defensive side of the ball. There have not been a lot of changes on the offensive side of the ball, other than the schemes that we're going to adjust and change.

"But I think the real preparation starts when we get out to Oxnard. I can't wait to play real football, or as close to real football as we get in training camp. I would say the shit talking from Christian Parker is a little different than what we had last year. The guys feed off it in a good way, and you guys are beginning to figure out his personality, in a good way. It's been fun to watch him stir up CeeDee and George and Dak and those guys. I think we're in a really good spot."