Cowboys CEO Stephen Jones talks trade strategy as George Pickens and others near contract decisions

🚀 Check out this must-read post from Sportskeeda 📖

📂 **Category**: NFL

✅ **What You’ll Learn**:

The Dallas Cowboys enter the 2026 season with big questions about their roster, and Stephen Jones isn’t ruling out a huge draft move.

Speaking to reporters at the Scouting Combine week on Monday, the CEO had this to say about trading at least one of his franchise’s first-round picks for another player:

“It’s hard to predict. We’re definitely open to it. We’re always open to trading. The right guy is right, the right person, and we’ll certainly look at it and see if it works out with what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Looking to predict NFL playoff scenarios? Try our NFL prediction for real-time simulations and stay ahead of the game!

Besides the draft, the Cowboys are also facing free agency decisions from various players. Leading the way is wide receiver George Pickens, who set career highs in every relevant stat after arriving in Arlington via trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers.

And Jones wants to franchise him:

“We want Pickens here. We’re thinking about his world. We want him here. I love him, and I think he wants to be here. So it’s all a plus.”

The rally is scheduled to begin on Thursday and continue until Sunday.

Read also: George Pickens expected to hold out against Cowboys due to Jerry Jones-led front office’s decision on WR contract: Report

Read also: ‘We haven’t gotten to a point where we can all agree’: Cowboys CEO Stephen Jones doubles down on All-Pro star’s future amid free agency

Skip Bayless warns Cowboys about placing franchise tag on George Pickens

Speaking of George Pickens getting the franchise tag, the Cowboys received this warning against doing so from Skip Bayless on Monday’s episode of “The Arena: Gridiron”:

“You can’t trust him as a winning football player, or a leader. He makes some winning plays, but then you look at the end of the day and say, ‘We’re 7-9-1.’ I don’t think the rest of the team liked him constantly missing meetings or being late to meetings, because that’s who he is.”

He continued:

“If he was a solid citizen, I would say, ‘No, you have to go with him, because you can prove he’s better than CeeDee Lamb. But CeeDee is a leader, a solid citizen, a ballplayer, a playmaker, and I got that guy.’

The new league year begins on March 11.