With Dallas’ season hanging by a thread, owner Jerry Jones held out the possibility that the Cowboys could make a trade to bolster their awful defense.
His thinking is that Dallas has one of the best offenses, so if its defense could reach adequacy, the Cowboys could win an NFC East that might be down this year.
Non-trade reinforcements could come this week as receivers CeeDee Lamb and Jonathon Mingo near healthiness after extended injuries. Here’s what’s up in Cowboy Land.
Dallas Cowboys trade rumors: Jerry Jones stirs them
Three weeks out from the trade deadline, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that the Cowboys could be buyers. Although Dallas is 2-3-1, they are just a half game behind 3-3 Washington and a game and a half behind 4-2 Philadelphia in an NFC East that suddenly looks winnable.
For Dallas, it will only be winnable if their last-ranked defense suddenly improves and Jones sounds open to that.
“It just reminded me that we are still in it,” Jones said of losses by Philadelphia and Washington this week. “I see much parity and then you factor in that these teams get compromised with injury — and we can have and may (have injuries too) — but if we should have some good go of it here over the next weeks ahead with our injury situation and return of injury and we can get some wins. … The last thing that I’m thinking about is in any way being out of the hunt.”
Then he said, “Well, if there is a trade that would help the defense, we’re in position to make that trade,” Jones said.
Part of the reason Dallas is in a position to make a trade is because of the trade that helped ruin the defense, the ditching of Micah Parsons before the season.
“That alone has increased our flexibility of being able to look at potential trades right now whereas you might have had hand cramps before,” he said, citing the monetary savings Dallas had by losing Parsons. “So we’re in position to look at a trade. That doesn’t mean we’re going to make one.”
The name that makes the most sense for Dallas is still Cincinnati defensive end Trey Hendrickson, who is in the final year of his contract. Another name who just came available and is basically free is safety C. J. Gardner-Johnson, a former star at Houston who just got released from the Baltimore Ravens practice squad.
CeeDee Lamb injury
When CeeDee Lamb suffered a high ankle sprain three weeks ago against the Chicago Bears, Dallas didn’t put him on the injured list, which would have meant he would have had to miss four games.
The implication was he could be back for Sunday’s game against Washington, and that does appear to be a possibility.
“Without being a doctor here and without the benefit of a week of practice, we are thumbs up,” Jones said on his weekly radio talk show. “It’s looking good but that’s just it, you gotta have a week of practice.”
Dallas will release its first injury report of the week Wednesday and Lamb is expected to practice in some capacity.
Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Commanders, next game
The Cowboys return home to face the Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium Sunday, Oct. 19. The 2:25 p.m. MT/3:25 p.m. CT kickoff will be carried on FOX.
Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving game
The Dallas Cowboys play Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving Day. This is about the time of year Dallas announces the halftime performer, which last year was Lainey Wilson and Jelly Roll.
Jalen Cropper waived
The Cowboys, as they have done before, have parted ways with receiver Jalen Cropper, who was active for two games and returned three kicks. The question is who they waived him to make room for.
One guess is Jonathan Mingo, who has been on the injured reserve but is now clear to return when Dallas makes room for him. There is an expectation that he could be healthy enough to play this week against Washington.
Cropper was in his third stint with the Cowboys. He was on the practice squad in 2023, then again last year, when he was elevated to the regular squad for one game.
Dallas Cowboys schedule 2025
The Dallas Cowboys have kicked off their 17-game, 18-week 2025 schedule. Here is what it looks like.
Home games in bold
1 Thu. Sept. 4 at Philadelphia 24, Dallas 20
2 Sun. Sept. 14 Dallas 40, New York Giants 37, OT
3 Sun. Sept. 21 at Chicago, 2:25 p.m. MT/3:25 p.m. CT, FOX
4 Sun. Sept. 28 Green Bay, 6:20 p.m. MT/7:20 p.m. CT, NBC
5 Sun. Oct. 5 Dallas 37, New York Jets 22
6 Sun. Oct. 12 Carolina 30, Dallas 27
7 Sun. Oct. 19 Washington, 2:25 p.m. MT/3:25 p.m. CT, FOX
8 Sun. Oct. 26 at Denver, 2:25 p.m. MT/3:25 p.m. CT, CBS
9 Mon, Nov. 3 Arizona, 6:15 p.m. MT/7:15 p.m. CT, ABC/ESPN
10 BYE WEEK
11 Mon. Nov. 17 at Las Vegas, 6:15 p.m. MT/7:15 p.m. CT, ABC/ESPN
12 Sun. Nov. 23 Philadelphia, 2:25 p.m. MT/3:25 p.m. CT, FOX
13 Thu. Nov. 27 Kansas City, 2:30 p.m. MT/3:30 p.m. CT, CBS
14 Thu. Dec. 4 at Detroit, 6:15 p.m. MT/7:15 p.m. CT, Prime Video
15 Sun, Dec. 14 Minnesota, 6:20 p.m. MT/7:20 p.m. CT, NBC
16. Sun. Dec. 21 Los Angeles Chargers, 11 a.m. MT/noon CT FOX
17. Thu. Dec. 25 at Washington, 11 a.m. MT/noon CT, Netflix
18. TBD at New York Giants, TBD
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones could be open to a trade; Lamb update
