Proving, or confirming, that most of sports journalism is dead, for sale or never existed in the first place, on Monday night Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones sat in his suite next to his biggest “critic,” ESPN talking head Stephen A. Smith.
Smith no more hates Jerry and the Cowboys than Jerry detests money and full wells of oil. These bitter enemies are business partners.
Before Smith left at halftime of the Cowboys’ game against the Arizona Cardinals, there was an abnormal number of empty seats at AT&T Stadium. Even those brave enough to stand in the standing-room-only section in the end zones looked like they could actually breathe.
Ticket scalpers complained before the game that the demand for Cardinals at Cowboys was low, and they had to slash prices accordingly.
A 3-4-1 team hosting a 2-5 opponent should not crush the secondary ticket market, but the Cowboys on Monday night in early November normally fill the place. But this Cowboys team is bad, and even the drunkest, dumbest, most loyal fan can acknowledge their favorite team is not going to do much this season.
Which is why Jerry will do something he doesn’t need to do, and trade for a player, or two, when this team has so far to go, and too many holes to fill, to expect a few deals will make a difference in 2025.
Watching Jacoby Brissett and the Cardinals whip the Cowboys 27-17 on Monday night was just more of what head coach Brian Schottenheimer has seen too many times already this season.
“We got our asses kicked on both sides of the ball,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said after the game.
Shakespeare couldn’t have said it any better.
Kicking Jerry and the Cowboys is a favorite topic in the world of sports talk, but we are close to that point when even that can’t-miss subject is getting boring. Jerry can deal with a lot of things, but irrelevant is a bowl full of stale broccoli.
The only thing that can make this dull team interesting is a trade, which is why he will do it. A trade will be a legal steroid injection of captivating into his boring, bad club.
Before the game on Monday afternoon, Jerry teased that the Cowboys may make a deal before the NFL’s trade deadline at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Names that floated around are Cincinnati linebacker Logan Wilson, teammate Trey Hendrickson and Miami Dolphins defensive end Bradley Chubb.
After the loss, Jerry talked around and around and around in so many circles it would drive a geometry teacher to tears.
“There is no trade right now,” he said. “There is a trade that I am leaning towards doing.”
Got all that?
It was about this time one year ago he teased a trade, which turned out to be the Cowboys sending a fourth-round pick to acquire Carolina receiver Jonathan Mingo. Considering that Mingo has done nothing for the Cowboys, the team was better off just sending Carolina a fourth-round pick for nothing in return.
A trade in the right situation makes sense. There is no real trade for this team that makes much sense, other than it will be interesting, and it would help morale in a locker room that knows the score.
“Especially if it’s for a big-value guy you know who is going to come in and make a difference and have an immediate impact,” Prescott said after the game of a potential trade. “It can do so much good. I’ve been a part of one of those.”
That was in 2018. In that season, the Cowboys’ offense was struggling. In late October, they sent the Raiders a first-round pick for wide receiver Amari Cooper.
The Cowboys won seven of their final eight games, defeated the Seahawks in the wild card and lost in L.A. to the Rams in the divisional round.
“We put a streak together, and that’s what this league is about. It’s about creating streaks,” Prescott said. “Win streaks, and getting hot. Putting yourself in a better position than you are at this moment. That’s still in front of us. We can still get a streak going.”
That team in 2018 was pretty good, and Cooper was an immediate help to the quarterback. That was a case of one player whose presence upgraded the entire offense.
The Cowboys need to finish 5-3 just to reach a Jason Garrett-esque 8-8-1 record. In the NFC, that mid record may get you into the playoffs.
The Cowboys’ defense needs more than one player. Or two. This team needs one or two solid drafts to address needs at multiple positions.
A trade, or two, is not going to push this team into the January that Jerry covets.
But a trade or two would make the Cowboys interesting, and that is what Jerry needs.