The Dallas Cowboys were one of the teams that decided to stand pat at the trade deadline on Tuesday, so it's status quo for the team the rest of the season.

Ahead of the deadline, the belief was that if the Cowboys did make a trade, it would be for an edge rusher. However, as the deadline drew closer and closer, owner Jerry Jones made it clear he expected a quiet deadline.

As the Cowboys sank further and further into the depths of despair this season, many wondered if the Cowboys might consider trading George Pickens.

But, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, that was never in the table for the Cowboys, who just didn't want to trade Pickens. Adding to that, Pickens didn't want to be traded, either.

What's more interesting is Fowler noting that the Cowboys didn't so much as receive a call on Pickens.

"The Cowboys did not receive any trade calls on receiver George Pickens, who is happy in Dallas and didn't want to be traded," he said. "Teams in the receiver market weren't shopping in the high-end aisle, either, so the idea of a Pickens trade was a nonstarter. Plus, Dallas had no plans to deal him."

Why lack of interest in Pickens is troubling

It's surprising that the Cowboys did receive any calls on Pickens. Granted, it's possible teams simply knew he wasn't available, but we saw other teams inquire about players who were never going to be traded, like the Denver Broncos did with Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride, and the New York Giants did with Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson, per reports.

Pickens garnered a bad repuation around the NFL after his messy stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The lack of calls about him at the deadline might be a sign that things haven't changed on that front, or at least not enough for teams to trade for him.

That really has to make the Cowboys wonder if there will be much of a market for Pickens in 2027 if they decide to take the tag-and-trade route. That's a problem because if the Cowboys tag him and nobody is looking to trade for him, they will be hampered by the franchise tag money being on the books and could also have a situation in which Pickens holds out if he isn't amenable to the franchise tag for a second consecutive season.

This now at least opens the door slightly for the Cowboys to just let Pickens walk and pick up a compensatory pick if they aren't interested in keeping him long term.

We suspect teams will have much more interest in adding the veteran wide receiver if he doesn't cost draft capital to acquire.

If Pickens were to hit the open market, he should garner enough in a contract to net the Cowboys a third-round compensatory pick, but that will depend upon how active the Cowboys are in free agency, also.