Jerry Jones huffed and puffed, but Dallas Cowboys make no trades to improve at deadline
Owner Jerry Jones talked a good game about being willing to risk it all in an attempt to add a Super Bowl difference maker to the team before the NFL trade deadline expired on Tuesday.
He even said the Dallas Cowboys had offers they were considering.
But in the end, nothing ever got serious enough to entice the Cowboys to make a move, per a source.
So the deadline passed with the Cowboys standing pat with their 6-2 record and with the same roster coming back Nov. 13 game against the Green Bay Packers after this week’s bye.
The Cowboys still like their chances to contend for the Super Bowl out of a wide-open NFC.
And the team made a move a move last week when they acquired defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders to improve the run defense.
But that was not what Jones was talking about when he said would take the risk and go for it there was an opportunity to add a Deion Sanders-like difference-maker who could put the Cowboys over the top and a real Super Bowl contender for the first time since 1995.
Jones said he’s like this team to improve from within and the Cowboys weren’t desperate at any place.
The only real concern remains at receiver, which was the main position they were considering supplementing with a trade addition.
The Cowboys had talked with the Houston Texans about receiver Brandin Cooks but the draft pick compensation and his $18 million guaranteed salary for 2023 proved to be the ultimate deal breakers, per sources.
CeeDee Lamb leads the Cowboys with 42 catches for 556 yards and three touchdowns. The next two leading receivers are Noah Brown and Michael Gallup with 25 and 12 catches, respectively.
The only other receiver on the roster who has caught a pass is disappointing rookie third-round pick Jalen Tolbert with one reception for four yards.
What’s also true is that this is the first time since 1973 that the Cowboys have had no player with at least 100 yards receiving in a game through the first eight weeks of the season.
The Cowboys hopeful that Gallup’s continues to get back to his old form after missing the first three games of the season rehabbing from a torn ACL.
They are also hopeful that Tolbert matures as a contributor.
James Washington, an offseason free agent addition who has been sidelined since August with a fractured foot, is expected back at some point in November.
And the Cowboys could still make a move in free agency with a player like Odell Beckham Jr., who is still rehabbing from a torn ACL suffered in last season’s Super Bowl while a member of the Los Angeles Rams.
Cowboys waive disappointing 2019 2nd-round pick Trysten Hill
The Cowboys didn’t make a trade but they make a roster move by releasing defensive tackle Trysten Hill.
The Cowboys tried to trade Hill before the deadline but got no serious takers.
They released him because a logjam on the defensive line that was supplemented by the addition of defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins last week and the expected return of defensive end Tarrell Basham from injured reserve.
Hill was not active in Sunday’s win over the Bears. He played in the first seven games of the season, a career high.
Hill never lived up to expectations after being picked in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Central Florida. He was was a healthy scratch for nine games a rookie, playing in only seven and recording just 6 tackles.
He suffered a season-ending knee injury in 2020, missing the final 11 games of the season.
Hill only played in six games 2021. The seven games this year tied for the most Hill played in one season.
He finished his Cowboys career ends with 36 total tackles and only a half-sack.
This story was originally published November 1, 2022 at 3:31 PM.
