ARLINGTON, Texas -- Shortly after Chad Ryland's game-winning field goal went through the uprights to seal a 33-30 comeback, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens flew down the hallway and into the locker room by himself. No other teammate, coach, or staff member moved faster to get into the locker room and out of AT&T Stadium after Dallas made ugly history with its blown 14-point lead.
Pickens' lack of targets was glaring. CeeDee Lamb led the way with 11 targets on Sunday while tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford was second with five targets. Pickens caught two passes for 48 yards. Four targets in a game simply isn't enough.
Pickens hasn't been bad this season: his 533 yards receiving rank as the 15th most in the NFL in 2026, just behind Trey McBride and just in front of Garrett Wilson (527) and Ja'Marr Chase (492). He is still on pace to exceed 1,100 receiving yards, but it regularly feels like the Cowboys are leaving production out on the field. Since Schottenheimer blamed Pickens' lack of vigor for run blocking for the team's struggling offense in a loss to the Green Bay Packers, he has 10 targets across the last two games.
"If I had the answer, we'd get him involved. I'm not trying to be rude or whatever it is, but he made some plays. Anytime the ball went his way, he came up with them. He had the one, unfortunately came back for a holding," quarterback Dak Prescott said. ... "I'm not sure about even how many targets he had. As I told y'all before, I go through the reads. [I] try to throw it to the open guy and stay consistent and true to that. And so, I've got to go back and look at the film and see if I missed him, see if we could have went to him more, see if we could have went to CeeDee more. I feel like it was a game that CeeDee didn't have as many catches as per usual, but we still had a chance to win and should have won it."
With the NFL trade deadline coming up in eight days on Nov. 10 and the Cowboys off to a 3-5 start and appearing to be going nowhere, it would make sense for Dallas to field trade calls for Pickens. He is playing out the franchise tag, and he will command near-top-of-the-market value on his second multi-year NFL contract. Dallas will also have to deal with balancing cornerback Joey Porter Jr.'s contract situation, since he, too, is set to be a free agent after the season.
After trading away draft capital to get Porter Jr. and Quinnen Williams, Dallas could use some additional ammunition in its 2027 NFL Draft war chest. So who could be blowing up owner/general manager Jerry Jones' phone for Pickens if word leaks out that they will listen to trade calls for their 25-year-old Pro Bowl wideout? Here is a look at five potential landing spots.
Landing spots
San Francisco 49ers
Record: 6-1
Jerry Jones has shown he doesn't care about sending a young star player to a non-divisional rival: he traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. The pairing of the 49ers and Pickens makes too much sense.
San Francisco is the NFC's top seed through the first eight weeks of the season, and they have $34.98 million in cap space, the third most in the entire league, per OverTheCap.com. There are no financial barriers to this deal.
Plus, they have a glaring need for Pickens given all their wide receiver injuries. Both Mike Evans (ribs, Achilles) and Deebo Samuel (hamstring) were ruled out of their last game played in Week 7. Three wide receivers are on their injured reserve list.
Lastly, the 49ers are all in for 2026 because of their aging core. Christian McCaffrey is 30, Evans is 33, Samuel is 30, George Kittle is 33, Kyle Juszcyk is 35, Trent Williams is 38 and DeForest Buckner is 32. Both Fred Warner and Nick Bosa are healthy right now, but they're both 29 with extensive injury histories.
Kansas City Chiefs
Record: 5-2
The Chiefs failed to score a game-winning touchdown after having a second-and-goal at the one with 15 seconds left, and Kansas City was outscored 15-0 in the fourth quarter of their narrow 28-24 road loss against the Denver Broncos on Sunday. You know who could have made a significant difference for quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the fourth quarter in Week 8? The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Pickens.
Kenneth Walker III is starting to lose a little steam after being heavily relied upon to carry the Chiefs' offense on his back. After averaging 133 rushing yards per game and 6.3 yards per carry with six rushing touchdowns in Kansas City's first five games of the season, Walker III is now averaging 52.5 rushing yards per game and 3.0 yards per carry without a touchdown in the last two games.
That's because the Chiefs' passing game requires Travis Kelce to be their No. 1 target, something that isn't a sustainable formula over the course of an 18-week season and beyond. Also, it would be incredibly foolish to waste the rest of Mahomes' glory years. The three-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback is 31, but he hasn't been the same high-flying passer that he was with a true No. 1 wide receiver like Tyreek Hill. Without Hill since 2022, Mahomes' production has taken a notable dip.
Buffalo Bills
Record: 6-1
The Buffalo Bills are the AFC's No. 1 seed through the first eight weeks, and they are always in win-now mode with Josh Allen. Yes, the Bills traded for DJ Moore, but he is probably best as Buffalo's No. 2 receiver on a Super Bowl team. He missed Buffalo's last two games with a shoulder injury prior to returning in Week 8, and he hyperextended his knee in the Bills' 36-10 beatdown of the Lamar Jackson-less Ravens.
Allen hasn't had a true WR1 since the 2024 Stefon Diggs trade. Pickens could help him become the league's most efficient passer. That would probably be enough for the Bills to perhaps win their first Super Bowl in franchise history.
Las Vegas Raiders
Record: 4-4
The Las Vegas Raiders trading for Pickens would be a case of taking care of the now and the later. The Kirk Cousins-led Raiders are 4-4 and just one game out of the AFC's No. 7 seed. Giving Cousins, whose 19 passing touchdowns rank as the second most in the NFL, Pickens to pair with Brock Bowers could really make Klint Kubiak's offense pop.
Among the players officially listed as wide receivers on the Raiders' roster, Tre Tucker, a 2023 third-round pick, is the best they have. He could also help accelerate Fernando Mendoza's long-term development. Pickens is just two years older than the 23-year-old Mendoza, so the quarterback could spend the bulk of his career with a high-caliber wide receiver in addition to the 23-year-old Bowers at tight end.
Perhaps living in Las Vegas would dull the novelty of going out on The Strip that Pickens and Lamb experienced when they visited for "Monday Night Football" last season.
Minnesota Vikings
Record: 6-1
Despite being 6-1 and the No. 2 seed in the NFC, the Minnesota Vikings have the sixth-lowest scoring offense (20.0 points per game) in the entire NFL. Their lack of rhythm in the passing game is a major reason for that, as their Kyler Murray-quarterbacked passing attack is averaging the second-fewest passing yards per game (165.6) in the entire NFL.
