The Dallas Cowboys need help. They’re not a very good football team here in the 2026 NFL season, and even in the win over the Colts on Sunday–which required a deft touchdown drive to beat a team that is active in a sell-off mode–there can’t be much confidence remaining that this unit can get things turned around without at least one significant addition. Sure, the Cowboys have only four picks remaining in last year’s NFL draft, but the franchise seemed to make the stand that 2026 would be their year come hell or high water. They’ve had both, but can still possibly rescue the year with the right move or two.
The one issue with that thinking, though, is that the Cowboys have repeatedly been sending the signal that nothing is going to happen at Tuesday’s deadline at The Star. For a team that usually pumps up its trade-chatter prospects before any big transaction day in the league, the Cowboys’ downplaying for a deal has been a surprise, and a disappointment to many.
Jerry Jones: Cowboys Phone ‘Not Ringing’
But on Tuesday in an appearance on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, while still downplaying, also left open enough sliver of hope for fans to think there could still be an addition coming to bolster the current group.
Said Jones, when asked if his phone was ringing: “You know that old country song, when that phone is not ringing, that’s me calling. So, it’s not really ringing, which you have heard me say numerous times, but don’t count it out. A lot of things happen on this last day. But I don’t look for us to make a significant trade today.”
Jones was asked whether that might be different if the team had played better, or at least not coughed up games against the Buccaneers and Cardinals the way they did. Ay 4-5, maybe Jones does not see this as a team worth going all-in on.
He said: “I don’t know, I can’t answer that, I don’t know. But I haven’t had a chance to really maneuver or think about or discuss back and forth with a team. We have not had a chance to have a meaningful dialog over the last two or three weeks about any player that we’d be interested in.”
Cowboys Trade Hopes Raised After Jerry Jones Statement