Dallas Cowboys extra parts: Trade Gallup, McGovern, or Lewis?

The Dallas Cowboys are a pretty deep NFL team and with a handful of players returning from injury right now, they’re about to get deeper. With the 2022 NFL Draft expected to be one of the better ones we’ve seen in years (as long as you’re not looking for a QB), the Cowboys may be tempted to trade the extra players now, to add to their draft picks for this spring.

The Dallas Cowboys are a team built on the draft. Top to bottom this team is built on the backs of the NFL Draft, treating free agency as an afterthought more often than not. So if they can score some extra picks for player they don’t feel they need, why not pull the trigger, right?

I couldn’t disagree with this logic more.

The Dallas Cowboys should be all-in this season and not even consider trading away valuable depth for picks.

The stage is set for the Dallas Cowboys. They are the heavy favorites in a weak division. They have a fairly easy schedule going forward and they even have a legitimate chance at getting the top seed in the playoffs. All of their effort has to be on this season.

As Dallas Cowboys fans have seen so many times before, the stars don’t always align like this for a team. Just because you’re good this season does not mean you’ll be good next season. Look at the Chiefs, Seahawks, Dolphins, and Colts. Heck, look at the last couple times the Cowboys made a postseason run and how they followed it up the next season. It didn’t matter if they upgraded on paper the following season – things don’t always work out like we planned.

The Dallas Cowboys need to protect themselves from disaster this season. They need to be all-in and completely focused on seizing THIS opportunity. That means if there’s an obvious upgrade to be made on the trade market, they should by all means add that player is the price is right. That also means holding onto current assets, even if they look like superfluous depth.

An injury or two to the offensive line could singlehandedly derail the season if there isn’t adequate depth to cover. I would never consider trading La’el Collins, Terence Steele, Connor McGovern or Connor Williams.

The identify of this team is built around the WR corps. I would never consider trading Michael Gallup, Cedrick Wilson, or Noah Brown. They are all capable players who have a role on this team as back-ups or as emergency starters. I’m not risking anything for a Day 3 pick.

Jourdan Lewis may be buried on the depth chart with Kelvin Joseph easing back in, but he’s a veteran who’s actually playing some pretty decent ball the last few weeks. If tragedy strikes I’d much rather throw him into action than be forced to lean on a rookie like Nahshon Wright.

The peanuts the Cowboys can get pale in comparison to the roles any of these players could play late this season. It’s a risk/reward situation where the risk far outweighs the reward. We highlighted Five Role Players just this week who stepped up and filled the shoes of the starters ahead of them. The Cowboys wouldn’t be where they are now without depth.

There’s no reason to get greedy. I love the draft as much as anyone (probably more) but I know a good opportunity when I see one and this season, my friends, is a dang good opportunity. I’m all-in and I suspect the Dallas Cowboys are as well.

• Published on 10/26/2021 at 12:33 PM
• Last updated at 10/26/2021 at 12:33 PM