Jerry Jones is keeping the Cowboys’ trade posture pretty clear heading into the Nov. 10 deadline: if Dallas makes a splash, it won’t be for something ordinary.
On Friday, during an appearance on Dallas sports radio station 105.3 The Fan, Jones said the Cowboys would need “a dynamic situation” before surrendering draft picks for a proven player. That lines up with what he said Tuesday, when he called a blockbuster move “unlikely” before the deadline.
The comments came after a recent report suggested the Las Vegas Raiders could at least listen on Maxx Crosby if a team were willing to send two first-round picks for the pass-rusher. Dallas was named as one of the possible destinations for Crosby, a 29-year-old who has been connected to the Cowboys since early 2026.
Jones, though, left himself room to pivot if the right opportunity comes along after Sunday’s game against Arizona. As Jon Machota of The Athletic shared, he said the Cowboys would need “it would have to be a dynamic situation to give up (draft) picks” for a proven player before the trade deadline.
He also made it clear that Dallas could be active on the other side of the phone line, too. Jones said he would “absolutely” take calls on players after the Cardinals game.
“There’s no such thing as not entertaining (trade offers),” Jones explained.”...Just because you would go there doesn't mean you'd do it, but it's worth considering or thinking about.”
That means even players already in the Cowboys’ orbit could wind up in the rumor mill. Wide receiver George Pickens, whose rights were retained for 2026 via the franchise tag, was already the subject of trade chatter before Week 7. Jones did not say what he would want in return for Pickens.
The timing matters, because Dallas is coming off a stretch where the front office might be tempted to react. The 3-4 Cowboys enter Sunday as seven-point favorites over the 2-5 Cardinals, according to DraftKings Sportsbook, and they sit behind only the 4-2-1 New York Giants in the NFC East while New York is on its Week 8 bye.
There’s also a simple football reason Jones wants this one badly. Dallas has dropped four straight games to Arizona and eight of the last nine in the series, and Jones made it clear he wants that pattern to stop at AT&T Stadium.
“It’s real, and we need to change that … that was such a disappointment last year when we got beat. We really have to be at our best,” Jones said.
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