Offensive tackle Broderick Jones will get a fresh start with the Dallas Cowboys. The Pittsburgh Steelers traded Jones and a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Cowboys for a pair of selections, including a 2027 third-rounder.
Jones’ fresh start began with the Cowboys on Monday. The offensive tackle made pretty clear that he hopes his new opportunity in Dallas includes a lot less changing positions.
During his first Dallas media session after the trade, Jones received a question about what didn’t go right in Pittsburgh. With his answer, Jones seemed to place blame on the Steelers.
“For me, I would just say bouncing around [positions],” Jones said, via The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “That was a challenge for me. Coming in, hopefully I can stick to one side.
“Compete for that [job], get comfortable, get familiar with it, get familiar with who I’ll be playing next to and go from there.”
Jones played left tackle at Georgia in his lone season as a starter in 2022. That’s where he trained as a rookie during his first training camp. But then in Week 5 of his rookie campaign, the Steelers inserted Jones at right tackle.
Jones started at right tackle in 2024 and flipped back to left tackle last season. This summer, he played both positions.
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There are arguments to support and oppose Jones’ claim that switching positions badly hurt his tenure in Pittsburgh.
There’s little doubt switching Jones to right tackle suddenly didn’t help. Coming out of Georgia, he needed more repetitions at left tackle to reach his sky-high potential.
Over his first two seasons, the Steelers used him at right tackle because Dan Moore wouldn’t switch from left tackle. Moore departed in free agency during March 2025.
That opened the door for Jones to play left tackle last season. He was a little better than he was at right tackle but still far from his first-round hype. But Jones suffered a serious neck injury on November 23 which sidelined him for the regular season and spring workouts.
If not for the neck injury, maybe Jones would still be Pittsburgh’s left tackle. But he was an average starter, at best, even at his more natural position in 2025.
This past offseason, the Steelers didn’t exercise Jones’ fifth-year option. It’s a decision that could have happened even without his injury.
The Steelers are now moving forward with two other first-round tackles as their future starters.
What Jones Previously Said About Playing Left and Right Tackle
For his first few years, Jones was largely quiet about how the Steelers deployed him at left and right tackle. But what Jones said to the Dallas media Monday was the same sentiment he expressed to Pittsburgh reporters this summer.
As recently as after Week 2 in the preseason, Jones shared he needed to start focusing on one side.
“I would rather not,” said Jones of switching sides as a swing tackle. “Me coming back from injury, I would rather not swing like that.
“I would rather stick to one side and just continue to focus on that one side, but wherever the team needs me — that’s right and left — I just gotta continue to get better, so I can help my team.”
Steelers fans could view Jones’s comment Monday as a dig at his former organization. But at the end of the day, the Steelers don’t have to figure out anymore how to use the talented but enigmatic Jones — the Cowboys do.
Dallas might view Jones as a swing tackle, but based on his comments, he clearly doesn’t want that role.
To stay on one side, Jones probably needs to earn a starting role. But as a starter early in his career, he hasn’t been anything more than average.
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