![\"George](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2248801735_9b9674-e1772039962286.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
George Pickens #3 of the Dallas Cowboys <\/p>\n
If we\u2019re going for the most dramatic outcomes possible when it comes to Day 1 of the 2026 NFL<\/a> draft, please keep the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> in mind.<\/p>\n The Cowboys not only have the draft capital to pull off a blockbuster trade, but they also have the personnel \u2014 led by NFL All-Pro wide receiver George Pickens<\/a>.<\/p>\n While most of the focus on the Cowboys has been on who they will pick with their pair of 1st-round picks at No. 12 and No. 20, or whether they will swap either one or both of those picks, another option might be to trade Pickens.<\/p>\n If the Cowboys find a team willing to give up a 1st round pick for Pickens, that would not only allow the Cowboys to move up and take either edge rusher Arvell Reese<\/a> or edge rusher David Bailey<\/a> and keep 1 of their 1st round picks, it could happen.<\/p>\n Then, depending on how high the Cowboys remain, they could take another wide receiver in the 1st round \u2014 3 wide receivers seem like locks to be 1st round picks in Ohio State\u2019s Carnell Tate<\/a>, USC\u2019s Makai Lemon<\/a>, and Arizona State\u2019s Jordyn Tyson<\/a>.<\/p>\n If the Cowboys thought they could get an elite wide receiver and elite edge rusher in the draft simply by dealing Pickens? And still have multiple 1st round picks left?<\/p>\n Seems like a no-brainer for owner and general manager Jerry Jones.<\/p>\n Draft Day Trade Prediction Could \u2018Rock\u2019 NFL<\/p>\n Bleacher Report\u2019s Kristopher Knox predicts<\/a> the Cowboys could \u201cRock\u201d the 1st day of the NFL draft by dealing Pickens \u2014 maybe even as the 1st round progresses.<\/p>\n \u201cDallas locked up Pickens early in the offseason with the franchise tag and is widely expected to address its 30th-ranked defense early in the draft,\u201d Knox wrote. \u201cHowever, the Cowboys haven\u2019t ruled out taking an offensive difference-maker with the 12th or 20th overall selections. The Cowboys might be even more eager to land an offensive playmaker if they decided to trade Pickens during the draft\u2019s opening night. While keeping him long-term makes plenty of sense in a vacuum, paying Pickens a market rate alongside CeeDee Lamb could be problematic.\u201d<\/p>\n Prime Candidate for Pickens Holds No. 2 Overall Pick<\/p>\n The most clear-cut candidate for Pickens\u2019 services appears to be the New York Jets<\/a> at No. 2 overall.<\/p>\n In this case, the deal might be Pickens and the No. 20 overall pick to the Jets in exchange for the No. 2 overall pick, where the Cowboys could take Reese or Bailey. Then the Cowboys take Tate, Lemon, or Tyson \u2014 hopefully Tate or Lemon \u2014 with the No. 12 overall pick.<\/p>\n Dallas is in a unique spot where they could actually trade Pickens and not expect the offense to fall apart \u2014 something only possible because they already have NFL All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb on a long-term contract.<\/p>\n It stands to reason that the Cowboys want to avoid paying 2 wide receivers over $30 million per year, which they would have to eventually do with Lamb and Pickens.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also an argument to be made that, coming off career highs across the board, the value of Pickens in any possible trade scenario will never be higher than it is right now.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTony 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. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Cowboys\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty George Pickens #3 of the Dallas Cowboys If we\u2019re going for the most dramatic outcomes possible when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":856794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,229,257,2461,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-856793","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-cowboys","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-cowboys","11":"tag-dallascowboys","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116357684444180835","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856793","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=856793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}