Jerry Jones wasn’t about to stop with Logan Wilson. Hours after landing the Cincinnati Bengals linebacker in a modest swap, the octogenarian owner and de facto general manager of the Dallas Cowboys swung a blockbuster deal in hopes of upgrading his defense.

In came New York Jets perennial Pro Bowler Quinnen Williams. Out went first and second round picks along with a former 2023 first round selection

Williams will be tasked with improving the league’s 31st-ranked defense. The 303-pound interior lineman is a run-stuffing savant who can help a defensive that’s given up nearly five yards per carry in a 3-5-1 start to the season. But he’s also an expensive addition for a team already slated to be over next year’s estimated salary cap.

So who got the better end of this Jets-Cowboys deal?

Jets and Cowboys trade details

• The Cowboys get: IDL Quinnen Williams
• The Jets get: 2027 first round draft pick (the Cowboys, not the one the Packers sent for Micah Parsons), 2026 second round draft pick, DT Mazi Smith

Cowboys trade grade

Unlike the Micah Parsons trade, this deal should *actually* upgrade the Cowboys’ run defense. Williams is a monster at the point of attack. His 13 run stuffs for a loss or no gain are three more than any other player in the NFL this season, per Next Gen Stats. Now he and Kenny Clark will get to lead a revamped three-man front that should shutter running lanes while providing pressure up front.

Williams hasn’t approached the 12 sacks he had in a breakthrough 2022 and his pressure rate has dipped from 12 percent in 2024 to eight percent this fall. Dallas is betting that, like the Colts acquiring a slightly tarnished Sauce Gardner, the switch from Robert Saleh to less effective defensive coaches is the culprit behind that downswing. But Indianapolis can rest easy knowing its defense is under the stewardship of Lou Anarumo.

The Cowboys, on the other hand, have Matt Eberflus. And under Matt Eberflus, they’ve been less than the sum of their parts throughout the season. Who else could possibly make Russell Wilson look good in this, the year of our lord, 2025?

Still, even if Williams stays the same he’s an elite talent at a position of need. But holy moly, the price was steep. By trading away Dallas’s first round pick in 2027 and not the Packers, Jones is betting his team will undergo a wholesale revival. That’s some impressive optimism, but it’s tough to see how that pans out. Dak Prescott is playing some of the best football of his career and his team is still 3-5-1. With a salary cap crunch lingering — the Cowboys were slated to be over next year’s cap even *before* trading for a veteran with a $26.6 million cap hit — adding talent will be tricky. Dealing away a second round pick that could be a top 40 selection will make that even harder.

Williams is a nice addition, but he alone can’t be a difference maker. Dallas lacks the assets to build around him and turn its lineup of stars into a winning constellation. His arrival fixes one problem, creates a few more and leaves a whole bunch of others for someone else to deal with. The Cowboys got better with this deal. It might not matter.

Grade: C

Jets trade grade

Losing Williams hurts, but the Jets stunk even with him up front. New York ranked 27th in defensive expected points added (EPA) allowed and 23rd against the run. With Sauce Gardner out of town in a lost season, things weren’t going to get better. The opportunity arose to sell high and the Jets, not exactly a franchise known for sound decision making, maximized its return similar to the way they did when shipping Jamal Adams off to the Seattle Seahawks years earlier.

The Jets cleared their land and picked up a bunch of valuable seeds in the process. Williams was a tone-setter up front who couldn’t be a singular agent of change on a depth chart where it became increasingly clear no one could. By letting him go, New York further set itself up to have more salary cap space than anyone next spring. It will also have a probably top three pick (its own), a late first from the Colts and a top 40 selection by way of the Cowboys’ second rounder. In 2027, the franchise will have three first round picks, including multiples that could land in the top half of Day 1.

That’s how you generate hope in a lost season. The Jets may be embarrassing to finish 2025, but they were already embarrassing to start it. In the process, they found a way to generate the assets to fuel a turnaround. Actually doing something with those assets is a whole other story, but a brighter future came more clearly into focus for New York at the trade deadline.

Grade: A

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Quinnen Williams trade grades: Who won Cowboys-Jets deal?