Week 6 brought us the closest game of the year for the Dallas Cowboys as they needed a late field goal from Brandon Aubrey to pull off a 20-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Dallas is now 4-2 on the season and while they have to feel better this week than they did following the loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5, there are still a few areas where they can improve after their bye week.
With the 2023 NFL Trade deadline around the corner, here's a look at five players they could try and acquire in an effort to address those concerns.
5. Jordan Hicks, Linebacker, Minnesota Vikings
In the loss to San Francisco, the Cowboys saw Leighton Vander Esch leave the game with a neck injury and it appears he could be out for a while. They did wind up signing Rashaan Evans who had 159 tackles last season for the Atlanta Falcons but they're still pretty thin at linebacker overall.
Dallas even had to turn to undrafted rookie Tyrus Wheat on Monday Night Football and he had a couple of plays to forget, including a penalty for lining up incorrectly on a punt. With that being the case, they might be willing to add more depth and one name to watch is Jordan Hicks of the Minnesota Vikings.
Hicks was a standout at Texas and has spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals. Minnesota, however, is trending in the wrong direction and could look to move the 31-year-old. If so, Dallas could be a decent landing spot and this would even allow Micah Parsons to play more on the edge if Dan Quinn desired.
4. Samaje Perine, Running Back, Denver Broncos
Tony Pollard finally got his chance to be the featured back for Dallas and so far, it hasn't been great. He had a huge catch and run for 60 yards against the Chargers, which helped set up a touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks, but for the year he has just 370 yards while averaging 3.9 per attempt.
What's worse is, Dallas has been awful in the red zone this year. Not all of that's on Pollard but it would be beneficial to have a power back capable of churning out a few tough yards on the ground. One option in this regard would be to trade for Smaje Perine of the Denver Broncos.
At 1-5, Denver is ready to make some moves to focus on 2024 and a late-round pick could be enough to bring in Perine. Adding him would give Dallas a 240-pound back who can not only move the chains due to his size but is also an underrated pass-catcher out of the backfield.
In 82 career games, Perine has rushed for 1,682 yards with seven touchdowns while adding 920 yards and another six scores as a receiver. He's not a player who has ever been leaned on heavily but that also means he doesn't have a lot of wear and tear despite being 28.
His addition could wind up rounding out their backfield while also giving them a veteran they can trust to allow Pollard to stay fresh and potentially return to the form we saw in 2022.
3. Cedrick Wilson, Wide Receiver, Miami Dolphins
Dallas pulled off a narrow win in Week 6 but once again, they had issues in the passing game. CeeDee Lamb was excellent, with more than 100 yards and Brandin Cooks had his best game of the season and scored his first touchdown for Dallas. However, their third wideout was a major issue.
Michael Gallup finished with three receptions on 10 targets and had several drops, including one that should have been a touchdown.
Dallas needs a spark at WR3 and one player who could come in and help open up the offense right away would be Cedrick Wilson who is currently with the Miami Dolphins. Wilson was selected in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of Boise State but missed his rookie campaign due to an injury.
He then spent the next three seasons with Dallas and broke out in 2021 with 45 receptions for 602 yards and six touchdowns. He parlayed that success into a three-year deal with the Miami Dolphins in 2022 but since his arrival, the Dolphins have added Tyreek Hill and more recently, Chase Claypool.
That latest addition feels as though it could be what pushes Wilson out the door and Dallas would be an ideal landing spot for him. He already has a great rapport with Dak Prescott and even though he's going to need to learn the nuances of Mike McCarthy's play-calling, he also knows the head coach from their two years together.
Miami might also be willing to give him up for little in return, especially considering he has just five receptions for 68 yards on the season and didn't even see a single target this past week against Carolina.
2. Zach Ertz, Tight End, Arizona Cardinals
For years, the name Zach Ertz was basically a curse word for Dallas fans. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound tight end spent nine seasons playing for the Philadelphia Eagles and was one of the best in the business during that span.
Ertz had 579 receptions for 6,267 yards with 38 touchdowns for the Eagles and made the Pro Bowl three seasons in a row — from 2017 through 2019. His best campaign was in 2018 when he went for 1,163 yards on 116 receptions with eight touchdowns.
In 2021, the veteran was sent to the Arizona Cardinals as the Eagles decided to roll with Dallas Goedert as their No. 1 tight end. The Cardinals have continued to feed Ertz the ball as he had 56 receptions for 574 yards and three touchdowns in 11 games that year. In 27 games with Arizona, he now has 127 receptions for 1,148 yards and eight touchdowns but with their shaky start to the year, they could be willing to move the 32-year-old.
While he's not the same player he was in his prime, Ertz is still very sure-handed and could serve as a mentor for Jake Ferguson and Luke Schoonmaker. The two young tight ends have all the talent to succeed but could benefit from picking the brain of an 11-year vet.
1. Jaylon Johnson, CB, Chicago Bears
Stephon Gilmore was added this offseason to start alongside Trevon Diggs, which would have given Dallas arguably the top duo at corner in the NFL.
They never truly got to see the two together with Diggs suffering a torn ACL in practice ahead of Week 3.
With him out, Gilmore has been the No. 1 cornerback and while he’s not as fast as he was early in his career, he’s still playing at a high level. He also secured their win on Monday Night Football when he intercepted a pass from Justin Herbert on the final drive.
Throw in Jourdan Lewis and DaRon Bland, who was a steal on day three last year, and the Cowboys have a solid trio at the position. But they didn’t want a solid defensive backfield when they traded for Gilmore. They wanted a shutdown defensive backfield.
That’s why it would make sense for Dallas to try and land Jaylon Johnson from the Chicago Bears. At 1-5, the Bears might be ready to start having a fire sale and Johnson would be a prime trade candidate considering he’s entering the final year of his deal. Plus, the lack of a contract beyond 2023 could make him more affordable via trade.
The Cowboys front office would have to get creative after trades for Gilmore, Cooks, and Trey Lance took up the middle of their draft. Having said that, Johnson is the 11th highest rated corner in the league according to PFF and could be exactly what the Cowboys need to make a second-half run.