Speculation on draft week is never ending and at some point is bound to touch every base for every team, no matter how outlandish.
And so it is that now the Dallas Cowboys are being linked to a wide receiver with their No. 12 pick. That sounds crazy and would look crazy on Thursday night, but two reasonable sources from ESPN (Adam Schefter and Todd Archer) threw it out as speculation and people are running with it.
So here are some rumors swirling around Dallas as draft day arrives.
Jordyn Tyson
In an example of how rumors can take off in the days leading to the draft, the Cowboys have suddenly been linked to Arizona State receiver Jordyn Tyson at No. 12. While this seems preposterous, it was said as an afterthought by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, his colleague Todd Archer sent Tyson to Dallas in a mock draft and suddenly “Jordyn Tyson” was a top result when the Dallas Cowboys were searched on google trends.
This is from Schefter’s podcast: “So let’s keep our eyes on Dallas figuring out a way to get up the board for (Sonny) Styles or (Arvell) Reese, and let’s see which defensive hole they decide to fill,” Schefter said. “But I do think there’s some Jordyn Tyson love there again as well.”
And from ESPN’s Todd Archer: “If the top defensive players are gone by the time the Cowboys pick at No. 12, then they could be staring at the highest-graded prospect on their board being an offensive player, such as wide receivers Carnell Tate (Ohio State) and Jordyn Tyson (Arizona State).”
Archer expanded on that when he mocked Tyson to the Cowboys: “If things start to fall this way, I would look for the Cowboys to move inside the top 10 and make sure they get one of the premier defensive players with a trade. But if they remain at 12, Tyson becomes an interesting name to watch. What about George Pickens? All the Cowboys are guaranteed with Pickens at the moment is one more. This does nothing to solve the defensive issues, but it does make the offense more explosive for quarterback Dak Prescott.”
Dallas did attend Tyson’s private workout, one of 20 teams there, and by Wednesday, Google AI was saying this: “The Dallas Cowboys are showing strong interest in Arizona State wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, attending his private workout following a standout 2024 season. While the team has urgent defensive needs, rumors persist regarding Tyson as a potential first-round pick (or at pick 12) to bolster their offense, with some reports linking him to Dallas due to contract uncertainty with George Pickens.”
At any rate, it would count as a major shock if Dallas took a receiver at No. 12, and if they did, expect that to mean they are planning to trade George Pickens for a defensive star. Much of the speculation is outlets quoting Schefter and Archer as an excuse to say what a terrible idea it is.
At any rate, Tyson had 61 catches for 711 yards last year despite missing the final three games with a hamstring injury, a season after he put up 1,101 receiving yards on 71 catches in 2024 as a sophomore.
George Pickens
Dallas has reached a decision with George Pickens. If he is going to play this coming season, it will be on his one-year franchise tag. There were no reports of talks about a long-term contract, and the Cowboys brass confirmed that at a pre-draft press conference Wednesday.
Per Dallas COO Stephen Jones (Jerry’s son and a co-owner), the Cowboys informed Pickens’ agent of that last week.
“It went really well — super cordial,” Stephen Jones said in an interview reported on the team’s website. “We’ve made a decision that we’re gonna have George play under the franchise tag, which won’t be a first for us.
“There won’t be negotiations on a long-term deal. That’s certainly not a a first for this organization and won’t be a first in the league, in terms of this decision as we move forward. So whether it’s Dak Prescott, who played under one and then got tagged a second time, whether that’s DeMarcus Lawrence or whether it’s Tony Pollard, we’ve had those situations.”
There was this: “We’re so fired up to have George on this football team,” Stephen Jones added. “He’s been here for a year, and we gave up a third-round pick for him and he’s made tremendous progress in the year he’s been here.”
Dallas Cowboys trade mock draft
There was one more major mock draft to drop Wednesday and it has Dallas making a trade that should excite fans.
ESPN’s Peter Schrager, one of four ESPN pundits to drop a mock this week, has Dallas trading their two first-round picks, Nos. 12 and 20, to another team with two first-rounders, the Kansas City Chiefs. In this trade, Dallas moves up three spots with their first pick and down nine with their second pick, so Nos. 9 and 29.
This actually makes a fair amount of sense as many of the people the Cowboys have been interviewing look like better fits at 29 or early second-round, and moving up three spots to No. 9 should give them a few more options on defense, as there does seem to be a drop-off after 10.
At any rate, Schrager then has Dallas drafting LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane, who ran his way out of the 12th pick with a big showing at his pro day. Before that pro day, he was occasionally mocked as the No. 12 pick in Dallas, but now he is firmly in the top 10.
With the No. 29, Schrager has Dallas taking UCF edge rusher, Malachi Lawrence. Of note, Schrager then has Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy, who was often mocked to Dallas a few months ago, at No. 30 to Miami. Schrager has the name most mocked to Dallas, Miami edge Reuben Bain Jr., going 12th to Kansas City, so Bain ends up at the pick he’s most frequently mocked to.
Of Delane, Schrager writes: “OK, our first trade! I could see this happening. After allowing 377 yards per game and letting opponents convert on third down 47.3% of the time − ranking among the worst in the NFL in both − Dallas has to get one of the top defensive prospects. It’s a necessity. But there’s no guarantee any of them − Downs, Delane, Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr., et al − will still be there at No. 12. This is a chance to guarantee getting one of them and still have another first-round pick. Delane’s coverage ability should help stop some of the big plays that doomed the Cowboys in 2025.”
Jermod McCoy
Speaking of Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy, who several months ago was a consensus to Dallas at No. 12, now could fall out of the first round over concerns with his knee.
He tore his ACL last year and didn’t play the season, but ran fast enough on his pro day to ease those concerns and generally has stayed somewhere in the back half of the first round in mock drafts.
NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero said this about McCoy: “It’s not the ACL that he had reconstructed. My understanding is the ACL itself is fine. All the scans look good. The concern is about a bone plug that was used to repair a cartilage defect in his knee. Some of the doctors that have seen his scans are concerned that he will need another surgery to replace that bone plug, which would be an extensive recovery.”
Dallas did bring in McCoy for an interview but cornerback doesn’t seem a position they can take a medical gamble on. The top of the depth chart at this point is second-year corner Shavon Revel, who didn’t seem 100% last year after a knee injury in college, and DaRon Bland, who has had increasing injury concerns the last few years.
The Cowboys desperately need help at corner, and the most likely ways to find it are either trading up from No. 12 for someone like LSU’s Mansoor Delane or down from No. 20 into the second round, where six of the cornerback prospects they interviewed are projected to be drafted.
Dallas Cowboys 2026 schedule
The Cowboys’ 2026 schedule is tentatively scheduled to drop on May 13, but Dallas already knows its 2026 opponents. One of their “home games” will be in São Paulo, Brazil.
Worth noting, Dallas has a game at Seattle next season, and traditionally, the Super Bowl winner opens the following season with a Thursday home game against a high-profile opponent.
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Dallas Cowboys draft picks
Here is the list of the Cowboys’ picks for the NFL draft, which is April 23-25. The first round is on the 23rd, the second and third are on the 24th and rounds three through seven are on the 25th.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Cowboys draft rumors: Jordyn Tyson, George Pickens and a big trade
Reporting by Bret Bloomquist, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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