Say what you will about Jerry Jones, but he talked a big game before the NFL trade deadline, and boy, did he deliver. That would be an understatement, as the Dallas Cowboys pulled off the biggest trade of the sweepstakes, acquiring Pro Bowl defensive tackle Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets.
The trade dropped not too long after the Jets traded star cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts. That was seen as a prime opportunity for Jerry Jones to call New York about Williams' availability. But according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Cowboys had their eye on Williams long before the Gardner blockbuster.
"I knew that one was coming," Schefter said on the Pat McAfee Show. "They've been working on Quinnen Williams all day. That was one the Dallas Cowboys were working on. That's why when Sauce came down I thought Quinnen was getting traded ..."
"The Cowboys have been working on getting Quinnen Williams all day..
He is who the Dallas Cowboys really wanted"@AdamSchefter #PMSLive https://t.co/7XMog0rp8R pic.twitter.com/mG89AQ1ZpW
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 4, 2025
Jerry Jones never teased that Dallas would go big-game hunting before Tuesday's deadline. He intimated that he had deals on the table, but as far as trading a first- and second-round pick for one of the game's premier defenders? No one saw that coming.
Maybe we should've seen it coming.
The Cowboys called the Jets in August about adding Quinnen Williams in a potential Micah Parsons deal. The two sides failed to find a middle ground, but Dallas has had a long-standing interest in the former No. 3 overall pick. And for good reason.
According to Next Gen Stats, Williams has beaten 57 double teams to generate pressure since the start of the 2022 season. That is the most of any defender in the NFL. He has also generated the fourth-most pressures of any defensive tackle in that span with 190.
Williams will only turn 28 in December and is on a cheap contract relative to his production for two more years. The Cowboys are catching some heat for going all-in to salvage this season, but that is Cowboys hate delusion forming opinions. We can assure you that not even Jerry Jones thinks Dallas is now a contender with Williams dropped into the starting lineup.
It makes sense why the Cowboys were in on Williams from the jump. He's a cornerstone player who will help maximize the remaining years of Dak Prescott's contract. It would've been nice to acquire him a few weeks ago before Dallas dropped to 3-5-1, but perhaps the Jets were still deciding whether to tear it down.