The Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers have developed a strange little habit: dealing with each other.
On Saturday evening, the two teams completed another trade, making it the second straight year and season in which they’ve struck a deal. And while the moves were separate, they do connect in a quirky way once you line up the full return for each side.
The latest swap brought Broderick Jones to Dallas. If Jones ends up giving the Cowboys even 10% of what former Steeler George Pickens has already provided, that would be a strong outcome for Dallas.
Here’s how the two trades shake out when you stack them together.
The Cowboys received George Pickens in Trade 1, then added Broderick Jones and a 2027 fourth-round pick in Trade 2.
The Steelers came away with a 2026 third-round pick from Trade 1, a 2027 third-round pick from Trade 2, and a 2027 fifth-round pick from Trade 1.
There’s also one more piece to the puzzle, and it’s the kind of detail that makes these deals stand out. In the Pickens trade, Pittsburgh sent Dallas its 2027 sixth-round pick and got Dallas’ 2027 fifth-round pick back in return. Then, in the Broderick Jones deal, Dallas sent that same 2027 sixth-round pick back to Pittsburgh.
So while the Cowboys and Steelers did not make one combined transaction, the pair of trades ended up linked by that exact pick cycling back where it started.
It’s a fun way to view two separate deals between the same teams. And with Pickens already in the mix, it’s hard not to see Dallas as the side that has come out ahead, even if that wasn’t part of the newest move itself.
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