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The Dallas Cowboys are unlikely to be buyers or sellers over the ensuing 23 hours.
In his scheduled radio interview, Cowboys VP Stephen Jones indicated the team will take a passive approach to Tuesday’s 3 p.m. CT NFL trade deadline, with no blockbuster deals planned as of this writing.
“We’re basically in a mode if something came to us and it made a lot of sense then we’ll look at it,” Jones said Monday on 105.3 The Fan.
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The 2-6 Cowboys — losers of three straight following Sunday night’s loss to the Eagles — executed several roster moves last week, shipping defensive end Everson Griffen to the Detroit Lions and releasing nose tackle Dontari Poe and defensive back Daryl Worley. They also acquired NT Eli Ankou from the Texans for a 2022 seventh-round pick, the team announced Monday.
“You make mistakes. You move on,” owner/general manager Jerry Jones said last Wednesday of the cuts. “We’re moving on, but by no means are we giving up.”
Despite ravaging injuries, Dallas’ roster is loaded with coveted assets on both sides of the ball. But the Joneses evidently prefer to gear up for a possible playoff push rather than dismantle the foundation they painstakingly hand-assembled.
Perhaps the most coveted asset at the moment is outside linebacker Aldon Smith, who leads the team with five sacks, reigniting his once-promising career after a half-decade-long league suspension. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported Saturday the Seattle Seahawks contacted the Cowboys about Smith and were told he’s not available for trade — and in fact likelier to ink a contract extension.
Why?
“We’re in this to still fight. We’re in the NFC East. It’s obviously a division that is struggling right now,” Stephen Jones said Monday, via the Dallas Morning News.
Gallup Reportedly Off Limits
Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News was given a “short but straightforward response” by a team official when asked last week about trading third-year wide receiver Michael Gallup ahead of Tuesday’s deadline. His source’s retort “clearly closed the door on the notion, dismissing the possibility out of hand,” Gehlken wrote.
Gallup, a 2018 third-round draft pick, is still only 24 and under contract for peanuts — $750,000 this season and $920,000 in 2021, his walk year. He’s already proven at the NFL level and displayed tremendous chemistry with Prescott, particularly on deep balls. For all those reasons, but mostly financial, this “makes the Cowboys less inclined to move him,” Gehlken reported.
Gallup paced the Cowboys with seven catches for 61 yards in Sunday’s defeat at Philadelphia, on a night where the entire offense was hampered by rookie quarterback Ben DiNucci.
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No ‘FitzMagic’ in Dallas, Either
Amid persistent speculation that Dallas could trade for benched Miami Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, beat reporter Mike Fisher of Maven Sports recently reached out to those in the know for the “truth” on the matter.
“False,” a Cowboys source told Fisher last Tuesday. “That doesn’t even make any sense.”
Perhaps another team will offer significant compensation and absorb Fitzpatrick’s $8 million salary-cap number. That team isn’t the Cowboys, who should sooner acquire a competent right tackle or desperately needed secondary help.
Besides, they already have their QB1: Dalton, who will start the club’s Week 9 home showdown against the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers, assuming the 31-year-old clears concussion protocol.
“Andy is our guy. It will be his job when he gets back,” Stephen Jones said last Friday on 105.3 The Fan.
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Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL