The Dallas Cowboys like making trades and aren’t shy about making moves at the deadline. This year it’s November 10, and the Cowboys, whether they should be or not, are in the mix once again.
One of their past moves was singled out by Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski as the NFL’s “Worst Trade Deadline Mistake” of the last decade: trading a 2025 4th-round pick to the Carolina Panthers for wide receiver Jonathan Mingo and a 7th-round pick.
“The amazing part of the Dallas Cowboys’ acquisition of Jonathan Mingo is how little they’ve received in return even though he’s still on the team,” Sobleski wrote on November 6. “To make matters worse, the Kansas City Chiefs flipped a lower draft pick to acquire DeAndre Hopkins prior to the same trade deadline. Mingo has caught nine passes in 19 appearances over two-plus seasons. Mingo has started exactly one game during that stretch. He hasn’t given the Cowboys anything they envisioned when they made the deal. Instead, an overreliance on CeeDee Lamb eventually led Dallas to trade for George Pickens, which further pushed Mingo down the depth chart. He and KaVontae Turpin basically flip-flop between the team’s fourth and fifth wide receiver options.”
Panthers Used 2nd-Round Pick on Mingo
The Panthers used a 2nd-round pick (No. 39 overall) on Mingo in the 2023 NFL Draft after he earned All-SEC honors at Ole Miss in 2022.
While he had 43 receptions for 418 yards as a rookie in 2023, it came in a season when the Panthers were the NFL’s worst team, with a 2-15 record.
Traded halfway through his second season in 2024, one weird stat about Mingo is that he has double the number of fumbles (2) as he does touchdowns (0) in his career to this point.
Cowboys Have Weird Situation at Wide Receiver
The Cowboys might look to make another trade at the deadline at wide receiver — with a 3-5 record, they could trade Pickens if they get the right offer.
ESPN’s Ben Solak thinks that if the Cowboys want to trade Pickens, who is on a 1-year, $27.2 million franchise tag, the team that would give up the most in return might be the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs.
“I might think … George Pickens is a trade candidate,” Solak wrote on October 20. “His effort level and focus seem to be waning again, and the Cowboys will struggle to pay Pickens and cornerback Joey Porter Jr., whom they recently traded for. If the 2-4 Cowboys keep losing games, I’d call Pickens on the franchise tag for the remainder of the season — we know he has game-breaking ability when he’s dialed in. Imagine Pickens … in Kansas City as Mahomes’ new downfield target? Exciting stuff.”
Cowboys Singled Out for ‘Biggest Trade Deadline Mistake’ of Last Decade