After the Dallas Cowboys came home one of the biggest winners of the 2026 NFL Draft, it did not take long for some of the focus to shift back to a vital part of the team's offseason.
Last week, when we heard from Stephen and Jerry Jones, we all learned that wide receiver George Pickens was not going to get a long-term deal. Instead, the team was expecting him to play on the franchise tag. And that was that.
Or so we thought.
Monday morning, ESPN's Adam Schefter appeared on The Pat McAfee Show as he often does, but this time, he offered up quite the report. We've already covered the report from Schefter, saying Pickens either wants a long-term contract or he would like to be traded.
That, in and of itself, was news -- for a moment.
The segment, originally posted to McAfee's X account, has now been deleted.
Pat McAfee deleted a huge update on Cowboys' WR George Pickens from Adam Schefter
Huh... what exactly is going on here?
Let's go back to exactly what Schefter said because, the reality is, he said it! This was the original quote posted to McAfee's account, straight from Schefter and live on the air:
"George Pickens wants a long term contract or he would like a trade.. The Cowboys have been very clear that they're aren't gonna give him a long term contract."
This is quite curious. McAfee and Schefter speak all the time. The show gives Schefter regular time, week in and week out. It's worth noting that McAfee's account posted several other clips of Schefter on the show, today, but none of them involved Pickens (at least not anymore).
Cowboys fans can only wonder, now... what the heck is going on behind the scenes? Well, let's look at the facts.
The Cowboys' brass definitely told Dallas media that the team will not be giving Pickens a long-term deal. At that same time, we also heard that Pickens had not yet signed his franchise tender -- which is still the case.
Stephen and Jerry Jones also did not rule out taking a wide receiver in the draft, even early on like they did with CeeDee Lamb once upon a time. But, of course we know now, the Cowboys didn't take one until later on in the seventh round.
So as of right now, it is Pickens and Lamb. The Cowboys have the same duo they had last year, with no other options to step into Pickens' spot in case of an unforeseen event ... like a trade.
At this point, things could very well turn ugly. But, we don't really know what's going on.
Schefter said what he said. But, maybe it wasn't supposed to get out yet. There could be a lot of moving parts on the back end that Jerry doesn't want out there quite this soon.
In the end, this can be classified as mostly speculation. But, I'll say it one more time: Schefter said what he said and there are likely millions who have heard and/or seen the comments by now. The fact that McAfee deleted the post with Schefter's quote is certainly notable.