Cowboys’ 5 Biggest Needs: As the NFL trade deadline approaches, will Dallas make any moves?

Michael Irvin summed it up pretty well on Monday when he was stopped by a TMZ photographer and asked about the current state of the Dallas Cowboys.

“It looks bad right now,” the former Cowboys wide receiver said. “The only hope the Cowboys really have right now is if a move is made at the trade deadline. … They need to do something. It’s bad now.”

Sunday night’s 30-24 loss in San Francisco dropped the Cowboys to 3-4, which puts them in 13th place out of 16 teams in the NFC standings. Their next four games will be against teams with winning records.

Making a move before the Nov. 5 trade deadline could give the Cowboys a much-needed spark. However, this seems unlikely.

Dallas’ current plan is to rely on its young players to step up and then get support from the return of injured players Micah Parsons, DaRon Bland, DeMarcus Lawrence, Brandin Cooks and Marshawn Niland. The problem is that by the time all this happens, the Cowboys may be in too big of a hole. And there is no guarantee that other high-profile players won’t get injured in the future.

“We’ll carry on with business as usual,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said when asked about the trade deadline on 105.3 The Fan’s pregame show Sunday night. “We have a lot of good players who will be back over the next three or four weeks. We also know that this is an important part of this. I know no one likes to hear about the business side of things, but the salary cap is what it is. Obviously we made some tough decisions this offseason, so we’re looking for some young guys who can help us. But if the right deal comes along, we will definitely consider it.”

The Cowboys’ 2024 salary cap is $20.5 million, according to Over The Cap. That’s seventh-most in the NFL. But the Cowboys have no plans to acquire players with notable contracts, as they regularly point to the big deals they recently signed Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb and plan to sign Parsons.

Other teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens, who have less salary cap space, have made moves recently. On Monday, the Chiefs traded a 2026 sixth-round draft pick to the New England Patriots in exchange for offensive lineman Josh Uche. On Tuesday, the Ravens traded a fifth-round pick to the Carolina Panthers for Diontae Johnson and the Panthers’ sixth-round pick.

The Chiefs currently have the best Super Bowl odds at +400, according to BetMGM. The Ravens are in second place (+650). The Cowboys are tied for 16th at +6600.

While the Cowboys probably won’t make a notable trade in the next few days, let’s pretend they’re going to be the buyer. Which updates will have the biggest impact?

It’s not as easy as you think. Parsons broached the topic with the Cowboys’ Trevon Diggs during Parsons’ The Edge podcast on Monday. Neither named the position or player.

Of the top five needs, two positions immediately stand out that weren’t addressed well enough this offseason: running back and defensive tackle.

1. Running back

Adding a running back such as Cleveland’s Nick Chubb has recently been mentioned AthleticMike Jones and Jeff Howe. They discussed the possibility of the Cowboys acquiring Chubb in exchange for a 2025 third-round draft pick and a 2025 sixth-round draft pick.

You could argue that fixing the game would have the biggest impact on the team. When healthy, Chubb is one of the best defenders in the league. He rushed for over 5,300 yards and 40 touchdowns between 2019 and 2022. But it’s very hard to believe the Cowboys would be willing to trade those picks for a running back when they didn’t even value the position enough to select one in the first round. five rounds in either of the last two drafts, knowing that Tony Pollard would likely leave as a free agent. An argument could also be made that Dallas’ offensive line issues are so significant that even a healthy Chubb won’t have the same impact as he has in the past.

2. Improving defensive tackle

Improving the defensive tackle would likely go a long way toward helping the NFL’s worst defense, but it’s also highly unlikely. Osa Odighizuwa is the top defensive player in Dallas according to Pro Football Focus, ranking 71st. There is another problem here: high-quality protective gear is not cheap. A Cowboys team that needs as many draft picks as possible to fill out their future lineups built around Prescott, Lamb and Parsons likely won’t part with upper-round picks to acquire a game-changer in the middle of their defensive line.

3. Help on the offensive line

The Cowboys look set to have success this season with Terence Steele at right tackle and first-round pick Tyler Guyton at left tackle. Steele ranks 53rd in tackles per PFF. Guyton is ranked 64th. Rookie Cooper Beebe ranks 23rd among centers. Tyler Smith is 14th and Zack Martin is 34th among defensive backs. The offensive line likely won’t see any new additions until the offseason.

4. Pass interceptor

Prescott and Lamb are getting close to where they need to be, but none of their other pass catchers have produced much in the passing game. Cooks’ knee injury clearly didn’t help. Jalen Tolbert was Dallas’ No. 2 wide receiver. He is ranked 57th among wide receivers by PFF. Jake Ferguson is still the best player in the tight end group. He’s ranked 44th among tight ends by PFF. He was 10th last season and 24th his rookie year. While Lamb ranks third among all pass catchers in the NFL with 613 receiving yards, Dallas does not have a single player in the top 50.

5. Security

The performance was so bad that defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer refused to evaluate the group to reporters on Monday. Donovan Wilson is the team’s 65th highest-rated safety by PFF. There was a time not too long ago when no team invested less in any position than the Cowboys did at safety. More needs to be done to improve the position again. But as with the rest of the places mentioned here, that probably won’t happen until the off-season.

(Top photo of Nick Chubb: Jason Miller/Getty Images)