In Mike McCarthy’s first season as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, they have underperformed but somehow still find themselves one win out of first place in the NFC East days before the Trade Deadline.
The Cowboys started the season as a Super Bowl contender with Dak Prescott at the helm but he endured a horrible ankle injury at home vs the New York Giants and will be out of the remainder of the season. Since Prescott was injured, Dallas has scored just 13 points. They are currently 2-5 on the season.
Their record might show they’re going to be in sell mode before the Trade Deadline but as previously mentioned, they still have a chance of making the playoffs.
The Cowboys should look to be buyers and sellers before the November 3 deadline, so here are three possible trades Jerry Jones could make.
Trade #1: Everson Griffen to the Seattle Seahawks for a 2021 6th-round pick
It was reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport that the Cowboys are actively shopping Griffen after their 2-5 start. There’s no better fit for him than the Seattle Seahawks.
While Seattle is at the top of the NFC West, it’s entirely due to its talented offense led by quarterback Russell Wilson. Their defense has allowed a league-high 368.7 yards per game and was picked apart by Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals offense in their 37-34 loss on Sunday night.
Griffen has 20 tackles, six quarterback hits, and 2.5 sacks so far in 2020–a year after being named a Pro Bowler in his final year with the Minnesota Vikings in 2019. Seattle should get Jamal Adams back from injury in the next couple of weeks so Pete Carroll’s defense could look much scarier with the addition of Griffen.
Dallas has about half of Griffen’s $6 million salary left to pay on his one-year deal, so with no control beyond 2020, they aren’t going to get much back for him. The trade, though, would allow Tyrone Crawford and DeMarcus Lawrence to take over as the full-time defensive ends.
Trade #2: Acquire Ryan Fitzpatrick from the Miami Dolphins for a 2022 5th-round pick
The Cowboys’ nightmare scenario occurred to them when Prescott was carted off with an ankle injury in their win vs the Giants earlier this season. At the time, Dallas was 2-3 and right in the thick of things in the terrible NFC East. Prescott has been dearly missed, as Andy Dalton hasn’t had much success as the quarterback.
To make matters worse for Cowboys fans, Dalton suffered a concussion on a nasty hit to the head in their 25-3 loss to the Washington Football Team last Sunday. Now, 2020 7th-round draft pick Ben DiNucci is likely to be the team’s starting quarterback at Philadelphia on Sunday night after Dalton hasn’t been cleared of a concussion.
America’s Team is one win out of first place so Jerry Jones can still “save” their horrible start by acquiring an experienced quarterback on a one-year deal. Who better than Fitzpatrick?
Fitzpatrick led Miami to a 3-3 start in the team’s first six games but was benched in favor of the Dolphins 2020 first-round pick Tua Tagovailoa last week. Fitzpatrick mentioned how disappointed he was to lose his starting job when the team was still in the race, so he would relish the opportunity to come to a team with Pro-Bowl caliber weapons around him.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, know they’re banking their future on Tagovailoa so trading Fitzpatrick would allow him to relax and settle into the starting role in his rookie season. At the same time, they would receive an extra draft pick for a player who would’ve left in free agency the next season anyway.
Trade #3: Acquire Jameis Winston from the New Orleans Saints for a 2021 7th-round pick
Winston is another option at the quarterback position if a Fitzpatrick trade doesn’t come to fruition. Everyone knows about the 30 interceptions he threw last season for the Tampa Bay Buccanneers, but he is learning behind Hall of Fame bound quarterback Drew Brees this season in New Orleans. Winston had LASIK surgery in the off-season which could’ve been a career-changing surgery that could get him back to being the dominant Winston that we saw in college at Florida State.
Winston obviously is more experienced than Dallas’ DiNucci is and even if Dalton comes back after his concussion, his game would be elevated because there’s a starting-caliber backup that could replace him. The Cowboys would only give up a late-round pick for next year’s draft, as Winston is a free agent next year and has already been paid nearly half his salary this season.
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