NFL executives are watching Dallas closely, and the edge-rusher market is where the real buzz sits.
According to Jason La Canfora of Casino.org, rival front offices believe the Cowboys could try to swing a deal for help up front, with Raiders DE Maxx Crosby, Cardinals OLB Josh Sweat, and Giants DL Kayvon Thibodeaux all sitting in the conversation. Jerry Jones has already made it clear he’s willing to lean on future money and future draft capital if the right player is there.
“We think enough of our opportunity that we would use some of the future salary cap, some of the future draft consideration, some of the future, if you will, [for a] trade asset,” Jones said. “We would use some of it to add to this team right now.”
Crosby is the loudest name on the board, but La Canfora doesn’t sound convinced Dallas would actually pay the kind of price it would take. One anonymous general manager told him earlier this summer that Las Vegas wasn’t actively shopping Crosby after his deal to the Ravens fell through, while adding, “They aren’t shopping him, but that doesn’t mean they won’t trade him eventually.”
That lines up with ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who said recently he’d be surprised if Crosby moved before the season. Schefter pointed to Crosby’s public happiness in Las Vegas and the fact that his stance shifted after the offseason trade talks unraveled.
“But here’s where I think it could change in time. Nobody’s going to say it now.
But what if the Raiders are not winning regularly? What if the Raiders are 1-5, 2-6, and we’re coming up to the trade deadline in the first week of November?
And there’s a team out there that could use a pass rusher, and Maxx is playing at the level that we think he can, another high level,” Schefter said. “I think that’s when the trade potentially could come back into play, and I think that’s when it might be time to start paying attention.”
Jones, though, didn’t shut the door on Dallas’ pursuit. At training camp, he addressed the possibility of a major move and said the Cowboys never stopped being interested after the failed physical that ended the Crosby talks.
“We didn’t. We did not walk away,” Jones said, declining to expand more beyond that to avoid tampering violations. “He’s a Raider.”
Sweat, in La Canfora’s view, is the cleaner fit. He also cited an anonymous NFL personnel executive with experience doing business with the Cowboys who thought the idea had Jones’ fingerprints on it.
“ This feels like something Jerry would do,” the executive said.
Arizona, meanwhile, is pushing back hard on any notion that Josh Sweat is available. Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort said the team has no plans to move him and dismissed the trade noise.
“There is always a lot of talk around that. We have no interest in trading Josh.
Some of those discussions we will keep private. We are excited to have Josh here,” Ossenfort said, via Darren Urban.
Thibodeaux is the other name La Canfora floated, and while he may not be viewed as a finished product, adding a talented defender would not be out of character for Dallas. La Canfora also noted that league executives don’t believe the Cowboys’ status as a division rival would automatically block a deal with the Giants.
The numbers attached to each player help explain why these names are drawing attention. Crosby, 28, entered the league as a fourth-round pick out of Eastern Michigan in 2019 and was once on a four-year, $3,302,264 deal that included a $782,264 signing bonus.
He later signed a four-year, $98.98 million extension with over $53 million guaranteed, and then agreed to a three-year, $106.5 million extension in March 2025. In 2025, he played 15 games and finished with 73 tackles, 28 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, one interception, six pass defenses, and two forced fumbles.
Sweat, 29, came into the NFL as a fourth-round pick by the Eagles out of Florida State in 2018. He finished his rookie deal, then landed a three-year, $42 million extension before eventually signing a four-year, $76 million contract with Arizona. In 2025, he appeared in all 17 games and produced 30 total tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, four forced fumbles, one recovery and two pass deflections.
For now, the Cowboys’ interest is the story, and the edge-rusher names attached to it are the ones league insiders keep circling.
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