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FRISCO, Texas — A day before the NFL trade deadline, nobody had called the Dallas Cowboys about any of their players, chief operating officer Stephen Jones said Monday during his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan’s K&C Masterpiece. The deadline is Tuesday at 3 p.m. CT.
Dallas is 4-5 after a 27-23 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium. Jones said the Cowboys have still checked in with every other team to see who is available.
“We haven’t. We really have not. It’s been pretty quiet on our end,” Jones said. “I mean, we’re certainly making all the calls. We touch base with all 31 other teams, and who’s available and who we might would consider if there was somebody that made any sense to us. But right now it’s pretty quiet on our front.”
Owner and general manager Jerry Jones said last week that Dallas would not sell players before the deadline and that he was much more likely to add to the roster than take away from it. Before kickoff in Indianapolis, he said on 105.3 The Fan that he did not see a trade coming.
Receiver George Pickens is playing the 2026 season on the franchise tag and was inactive Sunday with a hamstring injury. In a segment NFL Network posted late Sunday night, analyst Michael Robinson pitched a Pickens trade to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Stephen Jones Describes ‘Sword Fighting’ Before A Deal Gets Done
A team can cool on talks and still decide to get back in at the last minute. Most deadline deals start with each side holding an interest in the other’s players.
“Usually, usually you’re on to something that’s building, and you kind of, if you will, sword fighting a little bit, and just trying to see kind of where the other person is,” Jones explained. “If you have an interest in a player, they have an interest in your player, and then as you get closer to the deadline, then, hey, it’s either time to move a little, or move on.”
“And so it’s usually by now you’re on to something that you’re kind of keeping an eye on,” Jones continued.
Dallas already made one major in-season trade this year. The Cowboys acquired cornerback Joey Porter Jr. from the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 30 for a 2028 second-round pick and a 2027 sixth-round pick, and Porter was inactive Sunday with an ankle injury. Pickens also came to Dallas in a trade with Pittsburgh, in May 2025.
Jones Calls The Trade Deadline ‘A Plus’ For The NFL
Jones is a co-chairman of the NFL competition committee. In his view, some teams use the deadline to get better now, while others use it to collect draft picks and clean up cap space.
“I just think it’s evolved over time, and people have learned really the inner workings of the cap, and feel more comfortable making deals that they probably didn’t when we first got in the system,” Jones said. “But in general, I think it’s a great thing for the league. I think it’s exciting for the fans. I think it’s interesting to see how teams are looking at their teams in terms of either trying to improve them or maybe trying to focus more on the future and draft picks and cleaning up some cap space.”
“I think everybody kind of shows you kind of what they’re thinking at the time,” Jones continued. “So I think it’s great for NFL fans, great for the individual teams and their fans. I think it’s a plus.”
The Cowboys open a three-game homestand when the San Francisco 49ers visit AT&T Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 15. Kickoff is set for 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.
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