3 Cowboys Most Likely to Be Traded by Roster Cutdown Day

2. Dorance Armstrong

Dorance Armstrong is by no means a trade candidate because of his play or competition. After all, he's coming off of a career year that saw him post personal bests in sacks (8.5), tackles for loss (10) and QB hits (16). Instead, the Cowboys dealing away the EDGE would be due to financial reasons.

A rise in production, especially at one of the game's most important positions, often coincides with a big rise in pay. The 2023 campaign is Armstrong's last on a bargain two-year, $12 million deal he signed after an okay start to his career. Following the season he just had, he's going to get paid in free agency, whether it's by Dallas or someone else.

Unfortunately for the Cowboys, they're in far from an ideal position to retain the rising pass rusher. We've already seen the likes of Trevon Diggs and Zack Martin sign shiny news deals this offseason as Dallas' core starts looking for their next contracts.

Armstrong is just one of many upcoming FAs for this team, with Tyron Smith, Tony Pollard, Stephon Gilmore, Tyler Biadasz, Dante Fowler Jr., Terence Steele and Jayron Kearse also slated to hit free agency in 2024. That's not even to mention the rumored Dak Prescott extension or Micah Parsons' looming megadeal after taking the league by storm.

The 'Boys simply can't afford to pay everyone, so they'll have to pick and choose their battles. Armstrong may be the biggest flight risk, considering he has the perfect combination of production and upside that teams will throw money at. If the Cowboys don't think an extension will happen, then getting a nice haul for him now instead of losing him for nothing later is a wise call.