As Jerry Jones insists on buying rather than selling, what reality awaits spiraling Cowboys?

As the severity of Dak Prescott’s hamstring injury began to clarify Monday, the Dallas Cowboys’ 2024 reality clarified as well.

A 3-5 franchise whose head coach’s contract is about to expire is statistically unlikely to advance to the postseason. The Cowboys seemed headed toward elimination before losing Prescott for this weekend’s NFC East contest against the Philadelphia Eagles. Facing what team owner Jerry Jones called a “likely” injured-reserve designation for Prescott, they seem even closer.

There are front offices around the NFL who would look at this combination of factors and count themselves fortunate that they received this news just before the league’s trade deadline.

They would swap a talented player or two nearing the end of his contract for assets to better position the franchise to get over the playoff hump next season.

And yet, front offices across the NFL knew that’s not how Jones, also the team’s general manager, tends to operate. In the 48 hours between Prescott’s injury and the NFL trade deadline, few expected a Dallas change of heart.

“I feel like it’s so not Jerry to sell,” an NFC executive texted Monday afternoon. “We don’t think they’ll trade.”

Jones himself was quick to confirm that Tuesday morning.

“We’re not selling,” Jones said on Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan. “We’re buying and not selling.”

The Cowboys dealt for wide receiver Jonathan Mingo on Tuesday. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

An hour later, the Cowboys had traded a 2025 fourth-round draft pick to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for receiver Jonathan Mingo and a 2025 seventh-round pick.

Perhaps Dallas will prove a better home for the 2023 second-round pick who played for three head coaches in 24 games, the Panthers’ current staff increasingly uninterested in featuring Mingo in their offense. Or perhaps the league will be correct in borderline laughing at the Cowboys for sending their fourth-round pick (offset minorly by…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-11-06 07:26:17

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