There has been a lot of trade chatter surrounding George Pickens lately because of how down in the dumps the Dallas Cowboys are.

But all signs continue to point to the Cowboys not trading him, even though that might be the best course of action right now.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler was tasked with picking a Cowboys trade candidate and he named tight end Luke Schoonmaker.

"There are a lot of directions Dallas could go here," Fowler said. "But the struggling defense can't afford to move players on that side of the ball. Schoonmaker is the No. 3 tight end in the pecking order, and teams are looking for blocking tight ends. I just don't see Dallas moving key players at this point."

Why Cowboys could trade Schoonmaker

Schoonmaker had served as the Cowboys' No. 2 tight end in the past after being a second-round pick in 2023.

But Schoonmaker has not met expectations and he began losing his grip on the TE2 job last season, when Brevyn-Spann Ford began ascending.

And Spann-Ford's ascension was enough for the Cowboys to give him an extension, which was the first sign of trouble for Schoonmaker.

Eight weeks into the season and not only has Spann-Ford totally passed Schoonmaker on the depth chart, but the latter has also been completely irrelevant in the offense.

Schoonmaker has appeared for just 16% of the snaps and has three catches for 30 yards and no touchdowns on three targets. That continues his production decline after he went from 27/241 in 2024 to 14/132 in 2025.

Aside from his clear decline in the offense, Schoonmaker is also a free agent after this season and he has no future in Dallas. If there is a taker for his services, the Cowboys shouldn't hesitate to unload Schoonmaker before he leaves for nothing in 2027.

If that happens, the Cowboys could deploy practice squad tight end James Mitchell as their TE3, or they could even give rookie Michael Trigg a look.

Who could have interest?

There doesn't seem to be a lot of chatter about teams in the tight end market right now, but one team that makes sense for a trade for Schoonmaker is the Chicago Bears.

Chicago runs a lot of two- and three-tight end sets and recently lost its TE2, Cole Kmet, to a season-ending injury, which leaves the Bears depending on rookie Sam Roush, who has struggled, and a one-dimensional veteran in Stephen Carlson.

Schoonmaker is a serviceable blocker and pass-catcher and is probably a better option than Carlson, and he offers the experience the struggling Roush doesn't have.

If the Bears are willing to offer a seventh-round pick, the Cowboys should jump at the opportunity.

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