Dallas Cowboys Front Office Source Can’t Say Whether George Pickens Has Played His Last Snap In Dallas
FRISCO, Texas — Two days before the NFL trade deadline, a Dallas Cowboys front office source told former team scout Bryan Broaddus there was no telling whether George Pickens has played his last snap in Dallas.
A fan put the question to Broaddus on X about an hour before kickoff Sunday. By the time he responded, the Cowboys were playing the Indianapolis Colts without Pickens, who was inactive with a hamstring injury. Broaddus, who now appears on 105.3 The Fan, answered by passing along what the source told him.
“Had a front office source tell me. ‘Who F-ing knows?’” Broaddus wrote.
Stephen Jones, the Cowboys’ executive vice president, addressed Pickens’ contract on April 22. That was a week before the receiver signed his $27.3 million franchise tag.
“We’ve made the decision that George Pickens will play under the franchise tag. There won’t be any long-term negotiations,” Stephen Jones said.
The July 15 deadline for tagged players to sign long-term deals came and went without one. Pickens is scheduled to become a free agent in March 2027.
Dallas acquired Pickens from the Pittsburgh Steelers on May 7, 2025, sending a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick for the receiver and a 2027 sixth-rounder. In his first season with the Cowboys, he set career highs with 93 catches, 1,429 yards, and 9 touchdowns. His yardage total ranked third in the NFL.
George Pickens Sits With Hamstring Injury In Indianapolis
Sunday marked the first game Pickens has missed since the trade. He was limited in practice Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and entered the weekend listed as questionable with the hamstring injury. A shoulder injury has also bothered him since Dallas’ 24-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 8. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Friday he was hopeful Pickens would play.
Dallas listed Pickens among seven inactive players, along with cornerback Joey Porter Jr. (ankle), linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, and receiver KaVontae Turpin (ribs). That left five receivers in uniform: CeeDee Lamb, Ryan Flournoy, Jonathan Mingo, Camden Brown, and Jordan Hudson.
After a 23-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Oct. 18, in which Dallas ran for a season-low 48 yards, Schottenheimer singled out Pickens’ run blocking. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones made his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday, two days after a 33-30 home loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Jones said the Cowboys went into that game with a firm plan to run the ball.
“He needs the ball coming his way more, and there’s your good case,” Jones said. “You say what can you do differently than we did out there the other day? We get the ball in that direction more, and we press that. We had a really firm game plan to come out there and run that ball.
“We ran the ball, I think, 39 times, and we just didn’t get it done,” Jones continued. “And the Arizona line is to be commended.”
Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb Push Back On Pickens Trade Talk
Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb both spoke in the locker room at The Star on Thursday, five days before the deadline. Pickens had been the subject of trade speculation all week after Dallas fell to 3-5.
“People say a lot of things I don’t believe, so I’m not listening to that one, either,” Prescott said.
Through eight games, Pickens has 39 catches for 533 yards and 2 touchdowns. Lamb leads the team with 60 catches for 709 yards and 6 touchdowns. Over the last two games, against the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona, Pickens played 79 offensive snaps. Flournoy played 98 and Lamb played 106. Pickens drew 10 targets in that span, and Flournoy drew 8.
“George is a great teammate,” Prescott explained. “And I say that in the sense of, he’s gonna do whatever is asked, he’s going to do whatever is called. If it’s to go block, if it’s to just go run a guy off, he’s going to do that. He believes in just doing the right thing, and the ball will come his way at times. And so, that’s not on George.”
Lamb said his only conversation with Pickens lately has been that the receiver will be ready when his time comes. He has told Pickens to remember how he felt after games and use it as fuel.
“I don’t know why that’s a thing,” Lamb said. “C’mon man. Everything that I have been able to accomplish has been because of him and what he’s done the year before. Vice versa with everything that I’ve accomplished the year prior to that.
“He exposed them,” Lamb continued. “Just kind of taking what the defense is giving us, and I feel like that goes hand in hand with why I’m able to do what I’m doing at a great pace.”
Jerry Jones told 105.3 The Fan on Friday that the Cowboys were much more likely to add than subtract at the deadline. The same day, Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported, citing multiple sources, that the Cowboys never engaged in trying to move Pickens after placing the tag on him and that the approach had not changed ahead of the deadline. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Tuesday on The Pat McAfee Show that “as of right now there’s nothing there” on a Pickens trade. NFL insider Jordan Schultz said on The Pivot that several teams had asked him whether Jones would consider using Pickens as a trade chip to improve another area of the roster.
The trade deadline is 3 p.m. CT on Tuesday. Dallas entered Sunday at 3-5 and hosts the San Francisco 49ers at 3:25 p.m. CT on Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium.
