{"id":849848,"date":"2026-04-02T19:14:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T19:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849848\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T19:14:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T19:14:18","slug":"dallas-cowboys-trade-pitch-sends-wr-george-pickens-to-falcons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849848\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Cowboys Trade Pitch Sends WR George Pickens to Falcons"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2240608308-e1775156022948.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"George Pickens\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens. <\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s probably a good reason no <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/\" title=\"NFL\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"212614\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NFL<\/a> team has made the move to pay 2 wide receivers $30 million each. It\u2019s the same reason you wouldn\u2019t want to double up on that kind of money at any position.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/dallas-cowboys\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dallas Cowboys<\/a> know this better than anyone else after suffering through a miserable season in 2025 in which they paid 2 cornerbacks \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/trevon-diggs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Trevon Diggs<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/daron-bland\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Daron Bland<\/a> \u2014 on contracts worth a combined $187.8 million and got little in return.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also why the Cowboys would be smart to try to trade NFL All-Pro <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/george-pickens\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">George Pickens<\/a> this offseason, when his value will never be higher, and make sure they get the kind of package back in return that still allows the offense to be among the NFL\u2019s best and also sets them up for the future.<\/p>\n<p>In this scenario, that means identifying a team that might be overly eager to get a player like Pickens back in return \u2014 a team just like the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/atlanta-falcons\/\" title=\"Atlanta Falcons\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"212613\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Atlanta Falcons<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In this scenario, the Cowboys could ask for Falcons wide receiver <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/drake-london\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Drake London<\/a> and their 2026 or 2027 2nd-round pick.<\/p>\n<p>Why Deal Makes Sense for Dallas Cowboys<\/p>\n<p>When the Cowboys traded with the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/pittsburgh-steelers\/\" title=\"Pittsburgh Steelers\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"212612\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> for Pickens before the 2025 season, they got back a player who was going to be supremely motivated because they were playing for a big-money contract the next year \u2014 a formula they could repeat with London in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>London has been a great wide receiver on some terrible teams since the Falcons took him with the No. 8 overall pick out of USC in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/years\/2022\/draft.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">2022 NFL draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Over his first 4 seasons, London has 17-game averages of 85 receptions for 1,086 yards and 6 touchdowns, including career highs of 100 receptions, 1,271 yards, and 9 touchdowns in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>In 2025, London had 68 receptions for 919 yards and 7 touchdowns despite missing a career-high 5 games due to injuries. The Falcons picked up the 5th year option on his contract, and he\u2019s due $16.87 million in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>George Pickens: Automatic Fan Favorite in Atlanta<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\"><a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/dallas-cowboys\/best-landing-spot-wr-george-pickens\/\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Pro Football Focus called the Falcons<\/a> and new head coach Kevin Stefanski the best place for Pickens to Land.<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\">\u201cThe change of scenery to Dallas cemented Pickens as a bona fide elite name at the receiver position, and entering his age-25 season, he\u2019ll have no shortage of suitors this free agency cycle,\u201d PFF\u2019s Mason Cameron wrote. \u201cThis past season, Pickens earned a career-best 87.2 PFF receiving grade, posting top-three marks in receiving yardage (1,429) and 15-plus-yard receptions of 15 (38). The 2026 season will prove to be an important crossroad for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/michael-penix\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/michael-penix\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Penix Jr.<\/a>\u2019s development as a passer \u2026 Pairing Pickens with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/drake-london\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/drake-london\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Drake London<\/a>\u00a0would create one of the NFLs most electric receiver duos and set the young quarterback up for success.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\">Pickens helps any team he\u2019s on win games, but in Atlanta, he\u2019s also a box-office draw.<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\">Don\u2019t forget that Pickens starred at the University of Georgia and was on the team that won the school\u2019s first College Football Playoff national championship in 40 years following the 2021 season.<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\">If the Cowboys want to trade Pickens, they\u2019re not showing their hand.<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\">\u201cGP loves it here,\u201d Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer told <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SleeperCowboys\/status\/2038650824814186890?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">The Fort Worth Star-Telegram\u2019s Nick Harris<\/a> on Monday. \u201cWe love GP. We have plans for GP to be here for a long time. We\u2019ll let the business side of this thing play out and see where it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/tadame316\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tony Adame<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal.  <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/tadame316\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Cowboys\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens. There\u2019s probably a good reason no NFL team has made the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2074],"tags":[223,254,2554,224,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-849848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-falcons","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-falcons","10":"tag-atlantafalcons","11":"tag-falcons","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116336713915325595","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}