The NFL offseason is often a theater for the bold, and former New England Patriots cornerback Jason McCourty recently took center stage on ESPN’s Get Up with a trade proposal that has everyone hypothesizing. McCourty floated the idea of the Dallas Cowboys sending star wide receiver George Pickens to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for premier edge rusher Maxx Crosby.
Many Dallas fans have already visualized Crosby in a Cowboys uniform when he was a huge topic of discussion during last year’s trade
deadline. He’s clearly a recurring pipe dream. But McCourty has added another element to the mix, as this scenario forces the front office to choose in a rare star-for-star swap. That’s a bit of a curveball as fans preferred to have both, but if we want to seriously consider such a trade, we should entertain the following questions.
Who is the better player?
When evaluating individual greatness, Crosby currently holds the edge in terms of sustained elite production. Every year he’s been in the league, he’s been great, recording at least seven sacks in each of his seven seasons. He’s 28, so he still has plenty of good years left. He’s coming off a 10-sack year last season despite battling a knee injury. His résumé includes five consecutive Pro Bowls, and he’s a relentless splashmaker, making him one of the most feared defenders in the league.
On the other side of the coin, Pickens is an ascending 24-year-old receiver coming off a breakout season. He finished 2025 with 93 receptions, 1,429 yards, and nine touchdowns. While Pickens has the higher ceiling given his youth, Crosby is the finished product, a defensive force who has already proven he can be a factor week in and week out. It is essentially a choice between an established hurricane and a developing tornado, though Crosby has a better track record of destruction.
Which position is more valuable?
Positional value in the modern NFL dictates that disrupting the quarterback is often more critical than catching passes from one. Historically, elite edge rushers like Crosby impact every defensive snap by forcing quick throws, whereas wide receivers depend on their quarterback to be relevant. Last season, run or pass, Crosby lived in the backfield, providing a defensive floor that few players in the league can match. While a receiver like Pickens can break a game open with a single play, an elite three-down defensive end can not only make big plays but also have more opportunities to leave their mark.
When in doubt, follow the money, and salary data show that the highest-paid non-quarterbacks are almost exclusively edge rushers. It is much harder to find someone who can overtake 300-pound linemen than it is to find someone who can run fast and get open. Edge rushers are the league’s ultimate insurance policy, because even the best receivers look ordinary when their quarterback is lying flat on his back.
Which side of the ball needs the most help?
Obviously, this one is easy. The Cowboys currently have a lopsided roster, which is why we’re having this discussion. Clearly, they need the most help on defense. After trading Micah Parsons, the team is starving for pass-rushing help, and without it, everyone in the secondary looks worse. Adding Crosby would immediately fix a pass rush that lacked bite last season and provide a veteran leader for a unit undergoing a transition under a new coordinator.
However, let’s not act like Pickens is just a luxury item. The offense has Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, but having a perennial second wide-receiving threat is a big deal. We covered this last week, but the Cowboys are a night-and-day different offense when Prescott doesn’t have a secondary weapon. Do fans really want to go down that trail again?
Which position is easier to replace?
If the Cowboys were to pull the trigger on this trade, they would suddenly have a big need at wide receiver and could look to the draft to address that need. Both the edge rusher and wide receiver positions offer roughly the same number of options for the Cowboys in the first round. They have good options at pick 12 and good options at pick 20.
To truly answer this question, it would largely depend on how the Cowboys’ scouting department views the players at these positions. One group may be a lot more enticing than the other. All things being equal, making the trade for Crosby could mean the team just pivots to using one of their top draft resources on a wide receiver instead of an edge rusher.
Or, there is even a third option. Maybe the Cowboys use free agency to go after a wide receiver who may not be a threat like Pickens, but who can still help keep this a top-performing offense. In that scenario, the Cowboys would have Crosby and could still use their two top 20 picks to address the defense. That’s adding three legit defensive players vs. just two, and could help fast-track fixing the defense.
Which player will cost more?
Having either player under contract won’t be cheap. Crosby signed a three-year, $106.5 million extension last spring. He’s under contract for the next four years at an average cost of just $28 million. That’s relatively cheap for a top edge rusher, ranking outside the top 10 at his position.
Pickens is expected to receive a franchise tag worth approximately $28 million, but he’ll be seeking a long-term deal worth closer to $35 million. Additionally, Pickens’ new deal comes with guaranteed money and a firmer financial commitment than Crosby, as the Cowboys could simply choose to move on from him at any point without enduring a dead money hit. This makes Crosby not only cheaper, but far less of a risk in terms of getting out of the deal. And the icing on the cake is that we’d be able to skip the whole volatile negotiations that seem to accompany the Cowboys every offseason.
The verdict is in…
If the Cowboys are genuinely interested in Crosby, swapping him for Pickens would be a smart way to go about it. You might ask yourself, why would the Raiders do such a thing, but you must remember that they are about to draft a brand new quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, with the No. 1 overall pick, and his best receiver is currently slot receiver Tre Tucker. Adding Pickens would change the dynamic of that offense quickly and fill the seats in Vegas.
Pickens is coming off a great year, and it’s tough to say goodbye to someone like him, but will his 2025 production be the norm? This is a great opportunity to sell high and get a player in return who provides the consistent pass rush this Cowboys’ defense is so desperately lacking. The draft offers just as good a path to replace a wide receiver as it does an edge rusher, so the decision comes down to upgrading the more pressing edge position at the cost of a talented offensive weapon. It is a bold move for sure, but it would likely make the Cowboys a more balanced and dangerous team.
