FRISCO, Texas -- Jerry Jones isn’t closing the door on Dallas making a move before the Nov. 10 NFL trade deadline.
That matters because the Cowboys sit at 2-4, but Jones sees enough chaos in the NFC East to believe the season still has room to swing. The division has gone a combined 0-6-2 over the last two weeks, becoming the first in NFL history to go winless in consecutive weeks when playing four or more games.
The first-place New York Giants are trying J.J. McCarthy at quarterback, and the Philadelphia Eagles could be without Jalen Hurts for the rest of the 2026 season while he recovers from blood clots.
So Jones is thinking buyer, not seller.
"I'll be real clear, I could see being active at the trade deadline if it was something that could help the team this year," Jones told reporters at the league's owners meetings on Wednesday.
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer backed that up on Thursday.
"Number one, Jerry is never afraid to make moves, and number two, we have a lot of football left," Schottenheimer said. "We're excited about winning a big game in Philadelphia on Monday."
If Dallas does go shopping, it has enough draft capital to make a real swing. The Cowboys have their 2027 first-round pick, though it is the lesser of their own selection and the Green Bay Packers', plus a 2027 second, fourth and seventh. They also hold a 2028 first, third, fourth, fifth and two sixths, along with all seven of their 2029 picks.
The question is how aggressive Jones wants to get. If Dallas is truly trying to chase this season, the clearest target is Chargers edge rusher Tuli Tuipulotu.
That would be the splash. The Cowboys’ pass rush has not been nearly sharp enough, ranking 11th-worst in the league in quarterback pressure rate at 34.5% and fifth-worst in sack rate at 4.2%, according to TruMedia.
Rashan Gary and Von Miller, two veteran Pro Bowl edge rushers added this offseason, haven’t been consistent finishers. And Dallas is still trying to make up for the production of Micah Parsons after shipping him to the Green Bay Packers just before the start of the 2025 season.
Tuipulotu fits the bill if Jones is willing to pay. He is 24, already a Pro Bowl pass rusher, and on the kind of timeline Dallas usually likes: prime years ahead, with a contract situation that could make him available if the 0-6 Chargers decide to shake things up.
He had 13 sacks in 2025, good for sixth in the NFL, along with 70 quarterback pressures, which ranked 11th. This season, he already has two sacks and 19 pressures, and the Chargers have spent the fourth-most time in the NFL trailing at 3:46:47.
If Jones wants the move that would really announce Dallas as serious, this is it.
Another name that fits a different need is Dolphins linebacker Jordyn Brooks. The Cowboys had reportedly tried to get him in the offseason before Miami extended him on a three-year, $48 million deal with $35 million guaranteed. Miami’s rebuild has since gone in the opposite direction in a hurry under new coach Jeff Hafley and new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan.
The Dolphins are 0-5, own the NFL’s worst scoring offense at 14 points per game, and are the only team that has not led at any point in 2026. CBS Sports Research says they are only the second team in the Super Bowl era to fail to hold a lead through the first five games of a season, joining the 2005 Houston Texans. Miami is also carrying an NFL-record $179 million in dead cap hits, more than the $156 million it is paying to players actually on the roster.
Brooks, 29, is under contract through the 2029 season, which means Dallas would be buying a long runway instead of renting a short-term fix. He has been excellent against the run, with Pro Football Focus grading him as the NFL’s No. 9 linebacker in that area with a 78.6 run defense grade.
That would be a direct boost for a Cowboys defense allowing 149.8 rushing yards per game, which is the league’s worst mark. Brooks also gives Dallas another second-level rusher, as PFF lists him as the No. 7 pass rushing linebacker with a 79.1 pass rush grade.
Then there’s the more subtle option: Broncos wide receiver and return specialist Marvin Mims Jr.
On paper, it might sound unnecessary because Dallas already has CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. But this is really about special teams, with a possible WR3 or WR4 role attached.
Mims, 24, is one of the league’s top return men. He is a two-time Pro Bowl returner and a first-team All-Pro returner from 2024, when he led the NFL with a 15.7-yard punt return average.
He has scored both a kick return and punt return touchdown in his career, and in 2025 he led the league with 452 punt return yards.
Dallas has its own decorated return man in KaVontae Turpin, a three-time Pro Bowler and 2024 first-team All-Pro, but his stock may not be quite as high as it once was. He had a costly kickoff-return fumble in the Week 5 loss to the Buccaneers, and at 30 years old and 5-foot-7, 170 pounds, he is no longer the younger, explosive option he once was.
Mims is 5-11 and 182 pounds, and the Cowboys could even try to turn Turpin into a trade asset to help fund a deal for a younger replacement. There is also the Texas connection: Mims went to Lone Star High School, right down the street from the Cowboys’ facility at The Star, which is the sort of detail Jones has been known to appreciate.
Dallas has options. Now comes the part where Jones has to decide how hard he wants to push.
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