The Dallas Cowboys are on the clock. The tick-tock sound you hear is Father Time winding down on the playing career of Dak Prescott. The Cowboys’ franchise quarterback is 32 years old, and realistically speaking, you can probably count on one hand how many good years he has left. And it doesn’t help that he has missed time in four of his last five seasons.
Right now, he’s playing the best football of his career. He’s lean, he’s mentally sharp, and thanks to the new coaching staff, he has many things working in his favor to help this offense hum. Running back Javonte Williams leads the NFC with 592 yards. The Cowboys also hold a sack percentage allowed rate of just 2.94%, also the best in the NFC. The additions of new offensive coordinator Klayton Adams and new offensive line coach Conor Riley have completely transformed the Cowboys’ offensive line and blocking schemes. And with the offseason trade to acquire one of the best contested pass catchers in the league in George Pickens, the offense has never been in a better position to make some real noise. That is why the Cowboys must take full advantage of this opportunity to win right now.
It wouldn’t be a good idea to go crazy and ship off a bunch of premium draft capital to acquire a star defensive playmaker. While that sentiment is true, there is a path where the Cowboys could trade some premium draft capital to make a big splash if they had a well-crafted “win-now” plan in place.
The Cowboys have shown an interest in possibly trading for Las Vegas Raiders star pass rusher Maxx Crosby, so let’s run with that hypothetical and see how the Cowboys can make that work.
Only use one first-rounder for Madd Maxx
The Cowboys got two first-rounders for Micah Parsons, but he’s just 26 years old. There is a lot of gas left in his tank. Crosby is a couple of years older and is coming off a year that was cut short due to season-ending ankle surgery. He is still an elite edge rusher, earning Pro Bowl honors in each of the last four seasons. Crosby’s price tag should be high, but if the Cowboys were able to finesse only giving up one of their first-rounders (and maybe throwing in some less expensive draft capital), this could end up being a good trade for them. Crosby would come with five years of player control (through the 2029 season) at an average cost of less than $30 million per year. That is substantially less than the $46 million that Parsons is costing.
Restructure Crosby’s contract
While Crosby’s salary is cheaper than Parsons, he’s still a strain on the books. The front office could mitigate this by restructuring his deal and converting some of his base salary into bonus money. This allows the team to manage the cap and push some of his cost into the future.
Extend George Pickens in the offseason
With multiple first-round picks over the next two drafts, the Cowboys stand a good opportunity to grab one of the top wide receivers coming out of college. However, the team needs help on defense, and they already have a top receiver on the roster in Pickens. Since stepping on the field, Pickens has been everything fans could have hoped for, creating one of the most dangerous wide receiving duos in the game paired with CeeDee Lamb. The Cowboys should try hard to retain him, even if they “can’t afford it.” Simply shift money around by adding extra void years, like Howie Roseman likes to do for the Eagles. As long as Pickens is playing well, it’s a productive investment.
Trade Trevon Diggs
The Cowboys’ All-Pro corner is such an enigma, but with each new day, the writing on the wall grows larger, with his time in Dallas possibly coming to an end. The team recently re-upped on DaRon Bland and drafted one of the top collegiate corners in Shavon Revel Jr.. With Diggs becoming more and more of a headache with each new day, the team should consider moving on from him. Now, we realize his stock isn’t that high right now, but sometimes it’s better to cut your losses and get whatever you can for him.
Trade Sam Williams
If the team added Crosby, suddenly the Cowboys would have too many pass rushers. Rookie Donovan Ezeiruaku is showing more and more promise with every game, so they should want to keep getting him reps. Between Dante Fowler, Jadeveon Clowney, and James Houston, they have a good veteran presence to round out the depth. The odd man out could be Sam Williams, who is in the final year of his rookie deal. Again, they won’t get much in a trade, but the alternative would likely be an outright release.
Don’t rush DeMarvion Overshown or Shavon Revel Jr.
Some believe that the Cowboys’ “big move” is just the return of two promising young defenders, linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and cornerback Shavon Revel Jr.. It will definitely be nice to see those guys on the field, but hopefully their return won’t be done in haste. These guys are important pieces to their future, so allowing them the extra time they need to fully recover should be priority one. Rookie Shemar James is coming along nicely, and nothing will help the secondary more than reinforcing the pass rush via the Crosby trade.
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