Cowboys' George Pickens Eyed by Teams in New NFL Trade Rumors After Historic Loss to Cardinals

Even though the Dallas Cowboys don't appear eager to become sellers ahead of the NFL trade deadline despite a 3-5 record through Week 8, teams are at least hoping they will test the market for George Pickens.

Per ESPN's Dan Graziano, opposing clubs are "wondering" if Pickens might become available if the Cowboys lose again this weekend to the Indianapolis Colts.

Graziano did note his sense is the Cowboys won't consider dealing their star wide receiver before the Nov. 10 deadline.

This comes after NFL Network's Ian Rapoport said on Tuesday's episode of The Pat McAfee Show he has been told a Pickens trade is "not happening."

The Cowboys fell to 3-5 this season after blowing a 14-point fourth quarter lead at home to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. They allowed 23 points between the fourth quarter and overtime to lose.

Per the Elias Sports Bureau (h/t ESPN's Todd Archer), the Cowboys tied a franchise record by blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter lead to lose a game.

Dallas has not historically been a team that trades away players during the season. Jerry Jones has aggressively made deals to add talent in recent years, including Quinnen Williams last year and Joey Porter Jr. on Oct. 1.

The last in-season trade the Cowboys made in which they gave up a player without receiving a player back was in 2020 when they dealt Everson Griffen to the Detroit Lions for a conditional sixth-round pick.

Pickens would make sense to break that trend since he is playing on the franchise tag and it seemed like offseason talks with the Cowboys about a long-term deal never really happened based on how quickly executive vice president Stephen Jones said after they applied the tag there would be no multiyear extension.

A huge complicating factor is the Cowboys would have to consider themselves out of the playoff race, which doesn't seem to be the case because Stephen Jones said Monday they are still open to potentially adding to their roster.

If the Cowboys lose to a Colts team that has already entered sell-off mode by trading Quenton Nelson, DeForest Buckner and is coming off a 42-7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 8, perhaps Jerry and Stephen Jones change their deadline tune.

But until the Cowboys provide any evidence they don't view themselves as capable of getting back in the playoff race in the NFC, there's no reason to think Pickens will be moved within the next six days.