Dallas Cowboys: Action at the NFL trade deadline

The NFL trade deadline is quickly approaching (November 2nd at 4 pm EST) and there is already a ton of talk, rumors, and even a few trades, and the Dallas Cowboys’ faithful, with a bye week, has been talking about trades for a week now.

Before I go too far into this article, the reason I used Amari Cooper as the image for this post is Amari was acquired via trade before the deadline. Now, before we get into discussing it further, let’s look at the deadline as a whole.

The trade deadline is fast approaching and the Dallas Cowboys have to consider adding to their roster for a Super Bowl push.

The NFL is by far the least active of the four major leagues in terms of trades during the season. Much of this is due to the concept of the “sunk cost trap”. That is the tendency of people to follow through with something due to an investment of either time or money. In the NFL this happens because contracts have sizeable signing bonuses that are not spread to the new team, so teams have already invested large (for potential starters) sums of money and feel they are losing money by trading a player.

Another reason for the lack of trades is the receiving team needs to have cap space to bring the player on. If they have the money, the next issue is the agreement on compensation. Since it is rarely player for player, and usually is either picks or a combination of player and picks in return, and both teams need to agree the compensation is beneficial to them. When you add in the spending minimums set by the NFL and potential compensatory picks after the season, trades are not as easy to come by as other leagues.

As for this season, the Dallas Cowboys have some needs they could look for. The big two floating around are defensive tackle and cornerback. One of the big names at defensive tackle is Quinnen Williams. Williams is an outstanding tackle who could help get pressure up the middle more consistently and help against the run. The issue is the Jets currently hate the Cowboys over the Jamal Adams debacle and may try to run the price up.

At corner, the name that has been floated is Kyle Fuller. Rumor is the Broncos are looking to trade him, and at 29 Fuller is a strong one-year rental. How the Cowboys feel about Kelvin Joseph will be the key to this, well that and compensation for him, which is probably picks. However, due to cap minimums, they may need a player as well. Both positions have players coming off of injured reserve, so the Cowboys may decide to just roll with what they have.

On offense, the big discussion is about help at guard. This, to me, seems like the least likely as the Cowboys seem to like what they have and the fact they have the top offense in the league certainly supports their feelings. Defense seems the most likely for a trade, but nothing should be discounted.

The Cowboys do have some trade chips, names that have been discussed (even if not all fans agree) are Leighton Vander Esch, Michael Gallup, Jourdan Lewis, and I may have seen a La’el Collins out there as well. It is also possible picks are used and no players are offered, but just some names to consider. With a week left, we wait and see if anything happens, if not, the Cowboys march as is toward the playoffs.

• Published on 10/26/2021 at 11:55 AM
• Last updated at 10/26/2021 at 12:34 PM