Getty Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones stands on the field prior to Super Bowl 51.
As the November 1 NFL trade deadline looms, the Dallas Cowboys continue to be linked to a variety of possible deals. With the Cowboys offense ranking among the bottom half of the league, a trade to add wide receiver depth makes some sense for Dallas.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Mike Fisher, Jets receiver Denzel Mims is a name to watch ahead of the deadline. Dallas inquired about Mims prior to the start of the season and could be had for a future late-round draft pick, per Fisher.
“We will stick with our belief that Dallas should give in to the request of the Jets and send a conditional 2024 seventh-round pick to the New York Jets in exchange for wide receiver Denzel Mims, the 6-3, 207-pound Baylor product who was a second-round pick in New York now stuck in mothballs, without even getting a chance to dirty his uniform on Sundays,” Fisher wrote on October 18.
“As CowboysSI.com reported at the start of the season, the Cowboys made that call. It has been reported that the Jets were asking for a fourth-round draft pick in exchange for Mims. And that is not exactly true. Sources told us that New York asked for a conditional fifth-round pick that would elevate to a fourth should Mims gain 500 yards receiving with his new team.”
Mims Has an Affordable $1.1 Million Salary
The Jets are likely eager to move on from Mims as the receiver has yet to take a snap this season. After being a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft, Mims has failed to live up to the lofty expectations notching 31 receptions for 490 yards during his first two seasons.
There is a chance that Mims is not the player many expected the wideout to be after a standout career at Baylor, but a deal could be worth the risk for the Cowboys. Mims is on a manageable four-year, $5.4 million contract that comes with a $1.1 million salary for 2022. Mims’ salary combined with the Jets’ asking price makes the receiver more affordable than most of the other available players at the position.
Mims Was a Second-Round Pick in the 2020 NFL Draft
#Jets WR Denzel Mims, who recently requested a trade, has 6 receptions for 91 yards and this TD today vs. the Giants.
Showing the Jets and the rest of the league what he’s got.
Despite underperforming in New York, a change of scenery could help jump-start Mims’ NFL career. If Mims can earn his way onto the field, the physical playmaker would be catching passes from Dak Prescott while playing alongside CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup. Coming out of Baylor, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler described Mims as a “high-upside receiver.”
“He became the only player in college football to score at least eight receiving touchdowns in each of the last three years,” Brugler wrote in his 2020 draft guide. “Mims boasts the athletic skill to win at every level of the field, but on tape he was at his best on straight-line or one-cut routes (slants, posts, go’s, etc.), although he showed much more improved pattern movement at the Senior Bowl.
“He demonstrates the ability to make impressive extension grabs, but his ball skills are inconsistent, especially with a defensive back closing on the catch point. Overall, Mims must become a more consistent route technician, but he offers the length and contested catch ability of a big receiver while moving like a much smaller athlete to create separation, projecting as a high-upside receiver.”