Jerry Jones Hints at Massive Trade. Could Cowboys Have Their Eyes Set on George Pickens?
Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones hinted on Tuesday that Dallas could make some noise before or during the draft on Thursday night.
“We’re looking at two things that could happen before or after the draft,” Jones said during his pre-draft press conference, via Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Two pretty substantive trades. Been working on today.”
Yahoo Sports NFL insider Charles Robinson believes the Cowboys could have their eyes set on Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens.
“The Cowboys are hunting wide receivers and they really want to get a wide receiver at 12,” Robinson told Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller on 93.7 The Fan. “They want an elite-level number two. There is not necessarily an elite-level number two (in the Draft). Right now, since (Dallas owner) Jerry Jones is talking about trades, teams are wondering if that is George Pickens.”
Robinson believes the return for the Steelers would be a second day draft pick, meaning a second, or more likely, Dallas’ third-round pick. Robinson told the PM Team that Pickens’ skillset is exactly what the Cowboys want to add. He would be an ideal No. 2 to CeeDee Lamb.
The Steelers would create a hole at wide receiver by trading Pickens. And they don’t have a second-round pick due to the blockbuster trade for DK Metcalf. Trading for a second-round pick seems to be the most likely route if they do deal Pickens. That doesn’t appear to be on the agenda, however.
Steelers general manager Omar Khan was asked Tuesday if the team’s receiver situation, possible interest in moving back into the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft and Pickens’ contract could yield a trade.
“No,” Khan said, “we’re glad we have George and DK (Metcalf) here. I think they’re gonna be exciting for everyone to watch. Excited to have DK here, but no.”
Pickens has recently been the primary target in Mike Tomlin’s offense, and the head coach believes having another talented wideout might open things up. George Pickens has only one season left on his rookie deal.
“I don’t know that it affects him in any way directly,” Tomlin said last month at the annual NFL league meeting. “The strength of the pack is the pack, and when you have eligibles that are schematic problems for those that defend you, it creates more opportunity for all involved. And I think that’s probably the only lens through which I’ve looked at this to that point.
“I know as a guy who grew up on the defensive side of the ball, man, when you’ve got multiple people schematically (that) you’ve gotta work to minimize, it really challenges you in terms of some of the things you do.”
Whether or not Khan finds his way back into the second round will remain to be seen. Either way, the general manager is happy with how he spent the team’s original selection at that point in the order.
“You know, we’ll see how things shake out,” Khan said. “I’ll say this, you know, we gave up a second for DK and I’m so excited that we did that. Having him here is great and, obviously, when you get to the draft, you get excited about a lot of players. I wish I had 50 picks right now, you know, because there’s a lot of good players out there. We’ll see how it shakes out.”
Alan Saunders and Brenden Howe contributed reporting for this story.