ARLINGTON, Texas — The 4-1 Detroit Lions made it abundantly clear Sunday that the 3-3 Dallas Cowboys are not within striking distance of being one of the NFC’s top teams after dismantling them, 47-9.
However, when Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones was asked if he believes his roster, as currently constructed, has the talent to be one of the NFC’s top teams by the end of the regular season he said he did, but he couldn’t explain why he felt that way.
“I do. I just do,” Jones said postgame.
Sure, it’s hard for the Cowboys to play defense without their top edge rushers (three-time All-Pro Micah Parsons, four-time Pro Bowler DeMarcus Lawrence and Marshawn Kneeland); two of their top three corners (2023 All-Pro DaRon Bland and Caelen Carson); and their top inside linebacker (Eric Kendricks). Jones called said he thought the team was compromised on defense, but he currently isn’t in the mood to discuss a coaching change or take any big swings in terms of personnel moves at the moment. Instead, he would prefer his coaches and players simply show more effort.
“One change would maybe be try harder. Bear down harder,” Jones said. … “I’m not ready to talk about changes right now. I do think we’ve got personnel out there, especially on the offensive side of the ball, that can play better than we played today. Detroit had a lot to do with it. Our holes in our defense had a lot to do with that. … The address here will be from within, with each other.”
Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott pointed toward the 2018 season in which the Cowboys started 3-5 before winning seven of their final eight games to finish 10-6, claim the NFC East and eventually win a playoff game. He said one of the key qualities of that squad in making that run was that it stuck together. Another key component that he initially failed to mention that sparked that squad into the postseason was Jones sending a first-round pick to the Raiders in exchange for Pro Bowl wide receiver Amari Cooper. He played like a top-10 wideout once becoming a Cowboy that season. CBS Sports asked Prescott if the 2024 Cowboys need a similar type of impact trade to spark the current Dallas bunch, but the quarterback didn’t think so as it pertained to his current receiving core.
“They’re two different teams. Referencing that team, I was just saying we were 3-5 before we got rolling. Don’t plan on being 3-5 with this team,” Prescott said postgame. “However, that’s up to the front office. You know what I mean. I’ve got a lot of confidence in the guys we’ve got in the locker room, young guys coming on. You see [Jalen] Tolbert, play-in and play-out, day-in and day-out, game-in and game-out, getting better, making plays. We’ll get Brandin Cooks back healthy. Leave it up to those guys. My job is to make sure that I continue to push the locker room. As I said, make sure they understand their role and how to be better in their role.”
If Jones happens to change his mind and decide to make a move, which is unlikely, here are three trades for his consideration with the Cowboys now on their bye week in Week 7, the easiest point in their season to integrate a new player or two. Two are in the name of pushing for the postseason this year, while the third is a nuclear option that could break the hearts of Cowboys nation in case the season continues to go south. Each will be sorted into the category of either buying or selling.
Defensive tackle help
Transaction intent: Buying
Dallas’ defense has been a shell of itself in 2024 when looking back at the Cowboys’ three consecutive years with 12 wins from 2021 to 2023. The Cowboys led the league with 93 takeaways in their three seasons under then-defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who is now the head coach of the Washington Commanders, but under new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer in 2024, Dallas has only five in six games, tied for the 10th-fewest in the league this season.
There are many issues across the Cowboys defense that is the third-worst scoring defense in the league, allowing an average of 28.0 points per game. A lack of fundamentals is one, as its 64 missed tackles are the fourth-most in the NFL. However, its Achilles heel is in its defensive front, where the Cowboys current defensive tackles simply aren’t getting the job done. Out of 121 qualified defensive tackles in the NFL this season, PFF has Osa Odighizuwa graded 88th (51.1 PFF defensive grade), Linval Joseph graded 98th (47.7 PFF defensive grade) and 2023 first-round pick Mazi Smith graded 120th (31.8 PFF defensive grade). On a related note, the Cowboys are allowing 143.2 rushing yards per game this season, the seventh-most in the NFL.
Not getting any push up front in the middle of a defensive line limits the effectiveness a pass rush and secondary can have, which have been two areas of strength for the Cowboys in years past with edge rusher Micah Parsons (three), cornerback DaRon Bland (2023 first team) and cornerback Trevon Diggs (2021 first team) all earning All-Pro nods since 2021.
That’s why it would make all the sense in the world for Jones to trade for Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle B.J. Hill. Hill is a 29-year-old, seven-year NFL veteran who began his career as a third-round pick of the New York Giants in 2018. His PFF defensive grade ranks 18th overall (72.8) among NFL defensive tackles with at least 100 snaps in 2024, and his PFF run defense grade of 66.8 ranks 16th among defensive tackles with at least 100 snaps this season.
He is also entering the final season of a three-year, $30 million contract for the Bengals, who are off to a 2-4 start this season. Not having future financial commitments is something Jones loves. If he can acquire Hill for the cost of sixth- or seventh-round pick, he should make the move.
More juice in the receiving core
Transaction intent: Buying
Offensive line aid could also work here, but head coach Mike McCarthy said on Monday that he feels offensive line continuity and touches can help jumpstart his NFL-worst ground game that is averaging just 77.2 rushing yards per game. After Jones invested a first-round pick into offensive tackle Tyler Guyton, McCarthy is working to continue to develop him at left tackle as he heals from a knee injury he suffered in Week 5. Then the Cowboys have Pro Bowl left guard Tyler Smith solidified at that interior position and working next to third-round rookie center Cooper Beebe. That’s where his front five have the most banked reps as a unit from the offseason to today. It also makes more sense for Dallas to draft a running back from a great 2025 draft class instead of trade for one given the shorter shelf life of the position.
With 31-year-old, 11-year veteran wideout Brandin Cooks on injured reserve with a knee injury, Dallas could use some juice at receiver outside of 2023 first-team All-Pro CeeDee Lamb despite Prescott’s aforementioned remarks about his receiving core. The Cowboys pass-catchers’ 3.0 average yards of separation is the second-lowest in the NFL, and so naturally Prescott’s 22.8% tight window throw rate is the second-highest in the NFL, according to the league’s Next Gen Stats.
Acquiring Carolina Panthers top target Diontae Johnson, who leads his 1-5 squad in catches (29), receiving yards (340) and receiving touchdowns (three), could help fix that problem. Johnson is also currently on the right side of 30 at the age of 29, and he is entering the final year of his current contract, something Jones will appreciate. If Dallas can make a deal with Carolina for the cost of a Day 3 pick (rounds four through seven), the move makes sense if the Cowboys still truly want to make a playoff push this year.
One nuclear option: trading All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey
Transaction intent: Selling
Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey is the best kicker in football. The 2023 first-team All-Pro kicker has continued his stellar performance into 2024. In his first year, he drilled an NFL-record 35 field goals in a row to start his career and led the league with 36 made field goals on his 38 attempts. Aubrey is once again leading the NFL in made field goals through six weeks with 17 makes on 19 attempts. Dating back to 2023, Aubrey has made at least one 50-yard field goal in eight consecutive games, the longest such streak in NFL history. The previous record was five games in a row. Aubrey also made the second-longest field goal in NFL history and the longest in Cowboys history after connecting on a 65-yarder in Week 3 vs. the Baltimore Ravens.
However, if a team with a shaky kicker situation — like the Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers or New York Jets — called and were willing to trade Dallas a second-round pick, it might make sense for Jones to make the deal. He has essentially become exclusively reliant on building his team through the draft, spending an NFL-low $20.795 million in free agency this past offseason. Jones has also shown an inability to manage the salary cap with nuance, bungling the opportunity to sign running back Derrick Henry, the 2024 NFL rushing leader, after delaying inevitable extensions for Prescott and Lamb.
While Aubrey is shaping up to be a generational kicker, a second-round draft pick that could be used on a position of higher value would be of unique value to Jones and the Cowboys. That’s because Dallas refuses to invest in cash spending for external help via free agency. For context, only nine kickers have been drafted in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft in the Common Draft era (since 1967) with Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski (17th overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft) standing as the only first-round pick. At this juncture, Aubrey is like an expensive hood ornament on a car that is crumbling by the week.
The Cowboys certainly aren’t looking to deal Aubrey, but if a team called them and offered a second-round draft choice, which is unlikely, Dallas would likely need to say yes given its current team-building approach.
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Author: Garrett Podell
October 15, 2024 | 5:10 pm
