Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones initially attempted to employ a "Texas Hold'Em" approach to the 2022 NFL trade deadline. He said the only way he'd make a move was if there was an All-Pro or Hall of Fame-level game-changer available, like Deion Sanders. Jones signed "Prime Time" as a free agent before the 1995 season to cement the third and final Super Bowl victory during his ownership.
However, that approach went by the wayside after the Cowboys acquired defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, a role player to shore up their 25th-ranked run defense (135.1 rushing yards allowed per game), from the Las Vegas Raiders a week ago. At 6-2 entering their bye in Week 9, the Jones family is ready to take some swings in pursuit of another Super Bowl championship.
We've got some things we're entertaining," Jerry Jones said Tuesday on 105.3 FM The Fan. "This is an area where aggressiveness … doesn't work. It's got to come to you, but we've got some things that are coming our way."
If something does come the Cowboys' way, Jerry is waiting by the phone, ready to go.
"Better chance of nothing happening than of something happening. ... I'm standing by the track, and when the train comes by, I'm ready to hit that caboose and not let it get by me," Jones said. "If you're not, you will miss the whole show. I can grab the caboose on this train today in the next few hours."
Stephen Jones, Jerry's son and team COO/EVP/Director of Player Personnel, confirmed the Cowboys' approach of being ready to pounce on an opportunity to acquire "a player out there that can make us better on either side of the ball."
"If the right situation is there, we're always looking to make our team better," Stephen Jones said Monday on 105.3 FM The Fan. "Obviously, we're very much in the thick of a championship run this year, so absolutely, if we see the right situation present itself -- you know Jerry as well, who has the final call on this, he's an aggressive guy. If the right situation is there and we think it can make a big difference for us, then we'd be more than willing to pull the trigger on it. I think we've got our team in a very good spot, we've got great depth on this team, and certainly if we see a player out there that can make us better on either side of the ball, we would take a long, hard look at it."
One key area where the Cowboys may look to add depth is their wide receiver group. Former first-round pick CeeDee Lamb is the clear-cut primary option in the Dallas offense, as his 73 targets account for 31.6% of the team's targets. That figure makes Lamb the third-most relied upon receiver in the entire NFL, narrowly trailing the Rams' Cooper Kupp (33.1% team target percentage), the reigning Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl MVP, and the Dolphins' Tyreek Hill (32.5% team target percentage), the highest-paid wide receiver on an annual basis.
The Cowboys did sign 26-year-old receiver Michael Gallup to a five-year, $57.5 million extension this past offseason, but he's still working to clear the final mental hurdle from a torn ACL he suffered in 2021, according to head coach Mike McCarthy. Gallup has 12 catches for 135 yards and a touchdown in five games played this season.
