The biggest luxury to come from the Dallas Cowboys' high-octane offense feels pretty obvious when you pull back the curtain. Between CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, they have the single greatest wide receiver duo in the NFL, which has paved the way for one of the best receiver rooms in the NFL.
While Lamb and Pickens understandably get most of the hype in this offense, they overshadow one of the NFL's more under-appreciated wideouts in WR3 Ryan Flournoy. He's due for a breakout year for the Cowboys in 2026, as long as the rumor mill doesn't give Jerry Jones a reason to cut him loose.
Here's the thing: Flournoy has started to be floated in trade ideas, especially after Camden Brown's emergence this summer. But no matter how much these rumors start to get floated around, the Cowboys have no real incentive to trade away one of their most intriguing young assets.
The Dallas Cowboys have no reason to trade away Ryan Flournoy
During an episode of the Pat McAfee Show where Ian Rapoport appeared as a guest, the WR market came up. The Houston Texans are expected to be key players in looking for wideouts after losing Jayden Higgins for the year, and thankfully, they never brought up the idea of an in-state deal, since it would make no sense for America's Team.
Ryan Flournoy is a young, ascending player with a $1.075 million cap hit in 2026. You never trade away a talented player on a controllable contract unless you receive an offer you can't refuse--and while Nick Caserio is desperate, he's not trading the farm. All they'll really get is a Day 3 pick in return.
The 26-year-old is coming off a breakout season in 2025 where he caught 35 passes for 405 yards and four scores. Flournoy also ranked 52nd in total EPA at the wide receiver position, which was higher than players such as Xavier Worthy, Luther Burden III, Chris Godwin, and Garrett Wilson.
That's someone who might be WR3 on the depth chart, but has proven himself as capable of the workload. We also have to remember that the Cowboys are still in a contract stalemate with Pickens, and if he leaves or is traded next offseason, the 2024 sixth-round pick would likely step in at WR2.
Trading away Flournoy would be worth exploring if the Cowboys didn't have legit playoff aspirations, but given where they stand currently, they can't even think about trading him. It became clear last year he's only scratching the surface of his potential is a deep threat. That's not worth parting with.
For as WR-needy as the rest of the NFL can be, they better look elsewhere for reinforcements because Ryan Flournoy is off the table--and not just for the Texans.
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