The rumors linking the Patriots to an AJ Brown trade are far from over and appear to be heating up even more after the league's annual meeting. However, there is a lot of doubt that the Eagles will agree to move their star wide receiver, giving the Patriots more reason to look into other trade options.
Among the most desirable is George Pickens, who put together the best season of his career with the Cowboys in 2025. Because of that, Dallas planned to franchise-tag him this offseason, but Pickens hasn't signed the contract yet, as they continue to negotiate a long-term deal.
Jerry Jones is not known for wanting to keep players like the receiver around in recent years, and he puts off getting extensions done as long as he can. That was the case with QB Dak Prescott and WR CeeDee Lamb, and he even traded Micah Parsons last year to avoid getting a new deal done.
Although he has consistently claimed this offseason that he wants to keep Pickens around, he keeps putting his foot in his mouth the more he talks to reporters. He did that again earlier this week, and it looks like the Patriots might have a better shot at trading for him than they might have thought.
George Pickens could still become available for the Patriots in a trade
While Jones stated that he wants to keep Pickens around for a long time and that negotiations are ongoing, he made an odd joke that the receiver would save money if he didn't work with an agent. It's not really a big deal, but it feels ill-timed, given that we were just made aware of Pickens not signing his franchise tag just yet.
We also know that the more Jones talks to the media when Dallas is in a contract standoff with a star player, it usually doesn't end well, and the owner has a habit of saying too much or a lot of the wrong things that only make the situation worse.
That could certainly happen again with Pickens, and for that reason, the Patriots should be paying close attention to what's going on with the Cowboys.
If he becomes available, whether officially or not, there's no reason for Eliot Wolf not to inquire about what it would take to get a trade done. Pickens has proven to be the kind of talent New England's offense needs, and he could become Drake Maye's favorite weapon for years to come.
Because there is a lot of skepticism around Brown's availability, Wolf needs to keep his options open with wide receivers, especially ones who could be traded before June 1, since that is the speculated date for the Eagles to move Brown.
Pickens had an impressive year with the Cowboys, and that's reason enough to remain interested, even if it takes quite a haul to pull off a trade.