3 Dallas Cowboys that should be traded in the offseason

Blake Jarwin, Tight End

Yeah, I see you. You’re probably thinking how could someone think, within reason, to trade away Blake Jarwin after the Cowboys inked him to such a team-friendly deal last year. While it would certainly stink for the former Oklahoma State Cowboy to never see his career with the Dallas Cowboys take off, it might be for the benefit of both parties.

When Jarwin went down with a torn ACL at the start of the season, there was an unbelievable amount of concern regarding the tight end depth of the team moving forward. The team is currently employing third-year tight end Dalton Schultz and fifth-year tight end Blake Bell and the offense was moving… just fine.

The fact of the matter is, the Dallas Cowboys already had a good tight end in Dalton Schultz and they wouldn’t have figured that out if Jarwin hadn’t gotten injured. (Or maybe they would have I don’t know, roster management hasn’t always been great at the TE position for this team) When Blake Jarwin does inevitably return from injury I expect him to slide back into the offense as an H-back or even as a flanker TE as Schultz can line up predominantly as the Y-tight end for the team.

However, what if you traded Jarwin away and just brought back Blake Bell instead. Trading away Jarwin saves the team over $4 million each of the next two years and likely nets the team a late day 2 or early day 3 pick. The contract is good and Jarwin’s potential is still high after a season-ending injury. The inline blocking isn’t there but what team can’t use his receiving ability? (Look at me, what a hypocrite!) He could also end up on a team that will target him more!

It begs the question right? Schultz has proven to have reliable hands and has been huge for the team in the middle of the field, an area the Cowboys expected Jarwin to have an impact. While Jarwin is good, if not very good, at getting yards after the catch, Schultz is still more than good enough. Both guys are tall athletic receivers while one is a substantially better blocker than the other.

So what gives? (The answer’s pretty obvious)

As previously mentioned, I don’t think the Cowboys actually trade Jarwin because a twin TE set with these two is such a good matchup advantage for the Cowboys. However, trading Jarwin could net you a high enough pick to spend on a defender. If you hadn’t noticed, the team could use a couple of them. In addition, the four to five million dollars they save a year is good enough to bring a veteran at any position of need or even put the excess towards QB Dak Prescott’s contract extension.

In return, Jarwin likely gets more playing time, which means more touches, which means more financial compensation for his production. Sounds like a potential win-win situation for both parties.

Dallas has a lot more thinking to do this offseason about the state of their team as the 2020 season proved they were nowhere close to where they needed to be in order to field a contending roster. Transactions like the three mentioned could move the Cowboys closer to the playoffs and then eventually the Super Bowl, or so we hope.