The Cowboys have spent the last decade with Dak Prescott locked in as their franchise quarterback, and that stability is exactly why the latest trade chatter feels so strange.
Prescott is heading into his 11th season as Dallas’ unquestioned starter and remains the team’s all-time leading passer. So when rumors suddenly tied the Cowboys to a quarterback on the move, it raised eyebrows fast - especially because the name involved was Anthony Richardson, the former high draft pick the Colts seem eager to move on from.
Richardson, the No. 4 pick in the 2023 draft, lost his starting job to Daniel Jones in training camp last year. His season then took another hit in Week 6, when he broke his eye socket in a freak pregame accident and missed the rest of the year.
Jones took over and, for a stretch, played the best football Indianapolis has seen since 2009 before tearing his Achilles. Even then, the Colts did not turn back to Richardson.
Instead, they committed to Jones on a two-year deal worth up to $100 million. Richardson has started only 15 games across three injury-heavy seasons, and he asked for a trade in February.
No one has stepped up to make that happen.
That’s the backdrop for Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon floating Dallas as a possible destination if Indianapolis eventually gives up on him.
"Potential landing spots include the Cardinals - especially if Jacoby Brissett's contract dispute boils over - the Jets, once they realize Geno Smith is not the guy, or the Steelers, Cowboys, or Panthers as a premium stash-away option for 2027," Gagnon wrote.
For now, though, it reads like little more than speculation. Dallas already has Sam Howell and Joe Milton III behind Prescott, so there’s no real need to go shopping for another backup quarterback. Taking on Richardson’s contract and trying to rebuild him would be a strange fit for a team that already has its depth chart in place.
Indianapolis, meanwhile, still hasn’t found a team willing to meet its price. Richardson remains on the roster, working out this summer and trying to win a backup job behind Jones. As for the Cowboys, the odds of them actually making this move look extremely slim.
In Other News...
Pacers Fans Are Suddenly Being Asked To Imagine LeBron In Indiana
The Pacers have spent the better part of a year talking like a team that wants to be back in the thick of the East by the 2026-27 season, with Tyrese Haliburton still the center of everything after steering Indiana to the 2025 NBA Finals before his injury. That makes any conversation about star power more than idle summer noise, especially when the roster already has the kind of pace-and-space identity that tends to get linked with veteran stars looking for one more run.
So when LeBron James surfaces in free-agency chatter, Pacers fans are naturally going to do the math, even if Indiana has not been publicly listed among his known options. The fit is easy to imagine on paper, and Haliburtons connection to James only adds to the intrigue, but the practical hurdles are real enough that this remains more of a thought exercise than a finished plan for now. [Read more 🡒]
The East Just Got Tougher And The Hawks Have No More Excuses
The East has spent the offseason trying to reframe the conversation, and Paolo Banchero is among the players pushing back on the idea that the West still holds the upper hand. The Magic forward pointed to recent player movement and team performance across the conference, with the Knicks playoff run serving as another reminder that the East has plenty of teams capable of making noise when the postseason arrives.
For Indiana, that matters because the path to a deep run is only getting more crowded. Banchero also said the conference is drawing more big names and that the Magic are aiming to prove they belong among the elite after last season did not go the way they wanted, a sentiment that fits the broader mood around the East as contenders keep loading up and the margin for error keeps shrinking. [Read more 🡒]
LeBron Rumor Just Put A Surprising New Team In Play
LeBron James is expected to make his next move soon, and the conversation around his landing spot has gotten wide enough to pull Indiana into the mix. For Pacers fans, it is the kind of rumor that lives more in the margins than the mainstream, but it has taken hold because the team has at least been mentioned as a speculative possibility while the league waits for his decision.
The financial path is where the idea gets interesting, even if it is still built on a stack of assumptions. Indiana would need to clear a little more room to fit LeBron on the veteran minimum, and the chatter around the Pacers has been fueled in part by the broader LeBron orbit, including Tyrese Haliburton's upcoming role as his special guest co-host at Fanatics Fest. For now, though, there is still no credible reporting tying James to Indiana, and the more established destinations remain the ones drawing the loudest attention. [Read more 🡒]