With the NFL trade deadline less than 10 days away, one team you’re definitely going to want to keep an eye on is the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones has already made it clear that his team will be in the market to possibly add a defensive player, and the Cowboys aren’t messing around.
According to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, the Cowboys came out swinging for the fences over the past week: Not only did they call the Raiders about making a possible deal for Maxx Crosby, but they also phoned the Bengals in hopes of possibly making a trade for Trey Hendrickson. In both cases, they got rebuffed.
“Dallas is trying. They’ve actually called around,” Glazer said Sunday. “They called the Raiders for Maxx Crosby, was told no. They called the Bengals for Trey Hendrickson, was told no. They are calling around for help on defense.”
On Crosby’s end, it seems highly unlikely he ends up getting traded because the team wants to keep him and the Raiders star has told the front office he’d like to stay in Las Vegas.
The fact the Cowboys called both the Bengals and Raiders tells you how desperate they are to add some defensive help. Heading into Week 8, the Cowboys are the only team in the NFL this year that’s surrendering more than 400 yards per game (401.6). They’ve also given up the most passing yards per game (260.3), the third-most points per game (29.4) and the third-most rushing yards per game (141.3).
The Cowboys defense hasn’t been the same since unloading Micah Parsons in an August trade that sent their star defensive player to Green Bay. Through seven weeks, opposing quarterbacks have averaged a passer rating of 110.6 against the Cowboys defense this year. To put that in perspective, no QB in NFL history has a career passer rating above 103.
Getting rid of Parsons and then adding Crosby or Hendrickson would be an all-time Jones move. The biggest upside with Crosby is that he’d come at a cheaper price than Parsons and he’s under contract until 2029. However, with Hendrickson, he’s only under contract through the end of this season, so the Cowboys would have to give him a new deal if they wanted to keep him past 2025.
The Cowboys did get two first-round picks in the Parsons trade, and it appears that Jones might be willing to use one of those two picks to acquire a star defensive player.
“If there is a trade that would help the defense, we’re in position to make that trade,” Jones said on Oct. 15, via the team’s official website. “[It] doesn’t mean we’re going to make one, but we certainly had in mind when we started this season that we were going to have ammo to be more flexible in terms of what we do with the roster as we move along this year, and of course as we get into the next couple of years.”
Jones did recently tell The Athletic that his team might not go after a pass-rusher, but based on Glazer’s report, it seems the Cowboys owner is just trying to keep his cards close to the vest before the Nov. 4 trade deadline.
Even if the Cowboys don’t make a trade for a pass-rusher, they will be getting one on the field soon with the return of DeMarvion Overshown. The 2023 third-round pick recorded five sacks last year, but he tore his ACL in November. Overshown has been out since then, but is expected to make his return in Week 11. If you’re wondering what kind of difference he could make on the Cowboys’ defense, we’ve got the details here.
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