Dallas Cowboys: Trading for Roquan Smith to complete championship defense

With training camp and preseason well underway, the Dallas Cowboys main concerns reside on the offensive side of the ball. And besides those 17 penalties in its preseason opener against the Denver Broncos, the Cowboys still don’t know how their offensive line will hold up and are banking on progression from their WR corps to survive all the offseason churn they just underwent.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Cowboys are more optimistic, because each position seems to be thriving with a legitimate player and a decent backups everywhere.  At this point, the Cowboys defense appears to be light years ahead of the offense.

And if the Cowboys add this star player to its defense, there is no doubt the Cowboys will enter the season with a top-10 defense. For the first time in forever, the Cowboys will have play makers at just about every defensive position.

If the Dallas Cowboys trade for linebacker Roquan Smith they will finally have a championship caliber defense.

Dallas’ front office made a good move by signing former Minnesota Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr to a one-year contract worth up to $3 million dollars to bolster Dallas’ linebacking corps. Barr is a welcoming addition to a defense ready to advance to the next level. But if the reports are true about the Dallas Cowboys being interested in trading for Roquan Smith, then Dallas will have the potential to move its defense into elite territory.

The reality is Stephen is saving that $20 million on the future signings of Trevon Diggs, Parsons, and Lamb.

Currently, Smith is an unhappy camper playing with the Chicago Bears and wants out via a trade. It’s a move Dallas’ front office should seriously consider for several reasons.

Firstly, Smith is one of the best players out of his draft class of 2018 (actually top-10), a perennial Pro Bowler, and a youthful 25.

Secondly, Smith’s presence can allow Micah Parsons to play more as a pass rusher. Lastly, adding Smith will give Dallas’ defense one of the best linebacking units in the league-if not the best.

Smith will join a cast of different characters in a rejuvenated Leighton Vander Esch (who is having an outstanding camp), a promising talent in Jabril Cox, Barr, and other young backers like Malik Jefferson, Christian Sam, and Devin Harper.

Of course, the main question becomes what does Dallas have to give up in a big trade to acquire Smith’s services? Since Smith is a young, dynamic player, Dallas would have to give up a high pick to acquire the young star.

With Smith anchoring down the linebackers, it affords Dallas to unleash Parsons and fellow edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence, to relentlessly pressure opposing quarterbacks with only four down linemen. My Gawd! If you think Dallas’ defense was greedy with its take-aways last season, they will be even greedier and opportunistic forcing turnovers with that pass rush.

Smith allows defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to be overly creative with Parsons, moving him around like a chess piece. It should be noted that Dallas starts the season off against two of the hottest quarterbacks in the league, the great Tom Brady and the rising star, Joe Burrow. Those star quarterbacks are just the first of a few top-10 signal callers Dallas will face this season. Others include Aaron Rodgers (the Grinch of Green Bay) and Matthew Stafford of the defending Super Bowl champions Los Angeles Rams.

In addition to Dallas playing the Bucs and Bengals at home to start the season, having Smith on the field with a ferocious pass rush and a ball-hawking secondary gives them the edge they need to upset both opponents. And in road games against the Rams and Packers, Dallas will at least match the Rams defense and definitely have enough to stop Rodgers and his youthful wide receivers.

Sidenote: Because those aforementioned teams have the best quarterbacks Dallas will face this season, having Smith on Dallas’ defense gives them the opportunity to at least go 2-2 and possibly win 3 out of four. Remember, Stafford is dealing with an elbow pain, so who knows what his availability will be when he faces Dallas. Also, Dallas beating them will give them the tiebreakers come playoff time.

“Cap Boy” extraordinaire-Stephen Jones-is sitting on $20 million dollars in cap space, and we all know how Stephen values cap space more than actually using it to upgrade the roster. Stephen probably sees Dallas’ defense as set on all levels and adding Smith makes no sense. The reality is Stephen is saving that $20 million on the future signings of Trevon Diggs, Parsons, and Lamb. But that’s a different story for different day.

Smith is scheduled to make $9.7 million in this season and slated for a new deal, and the annual pay for a talented Pro Bowl linebacker like Smith starts at $15 million and ends around $19 million. Stephen’s theory is that he would rather have a team compete on a regular basis versus going all in to win it one season. Wow!

This is not science and math. Theories are good, but they do not apply well in professional sports for obvious reasons. The application is supplanted in the talent acquisitions and great coaching to achieve winning.

Normally, the teams that capitalize on the opportunities to sign, draft, or trade for elite talent, win championships. The Rams and Bucs are the latest example of teams that went all in and won that coveted Lombardi. Guess what? They have no regrets and aren’t handicapped by an imaginary cap that can be literally moved like goalposts.

For the record, I truly believe the Dallas Cowboys have a defense that is good enough to take them to the Super Bowl, and this defense will have some break out stars this season.  However, adding a star linebacker of Smith’s value will give the Dallas a Super Bowl-winning defense.

Back in 1992, then head coach Jimmy Johnson traded for future Hall of Famer edge rusher Charles Haley. The ultra-talented “War Daddy” was the last piece to the beginning of three Super Bowls in four years. That’s history.

The question is are the Dallas Cowboys willing to repeat history?