The trade deadline is fast approaching as NFL teams have until 3:00 pm Central time to turn in any consummated deals to the league office. There’s been a bit of activity so far, dealing with pass rushers, a position that in general the Cowboys are stocked at, but could always use more. With Randy Gregory emerging as one of the league’s best rushers this year, Dallas will have a great tandem once DeMarcus Lawrence returns from his foot injury later in the month.
There’s a few games until then and with rookie linebacker Micah Parsons being the next best rusher, it would stand to reason the Cowboys may be interested in acquiring a player. It turns out they may have been in on the biggest name, Von Miller. Miller and his eight Pro Bowls was traded from Denver to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday, but Sean McVay and company apparently weren’t the only team interested. It turns out the Cowboys sniffed around as well.
“I will add to Ian’s report with stuff that hasn’t been heard yet. It wasn’t just the Rams calling. The Buffalo Bills called about Von Miller. The Dallas Cowboys called about Von Miller,” said Peter Schrager on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football show on Tuesday (transcribed by Cameron DaSilva). “And Von Miller, who lives in Los Angeles in the offseason, lives in Venice, he was excited beyond belief to go. And they weren’t sure if he was going to be excited to go to Los Angeles because he was surprised by it when they made the move.”
The Broncos paid $9 million of Miller’s remaining $9.7 million in base salary in exchange for the Rams’ second and third-round picks in next April’s draft. That price was apparently too steep for the Cowboys who value draft picks at a much higher rate than Los Angeles does.
On Tuesday, owner Jerry Jones said on 105.3 The Fan (as transcribed by Mark Lane) that Cowboys fans should not expect to hear Dallas associated with any last-day acquisitions.
That quote coincides with the news that the Pittsburgh Steelers have parted ways with edge rusher Melvin Ingram, sending the outside linebacker to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a sixth-round pick.
Source: The #Steelers are trading Melvin Ingram to the #Chiefs in exchange for a 6th round pick,
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 2, 2021
The Cowboys have shown to be a pretty deep roster so far in 2021, with several backups stepping into opportunities and proving to be better than replacement level guys. Dallas is welcoming back several injured players already, with Dorance Armstrong and Kelvin Joseph returning to the team this past Sunday. Offensive lineman La’el Collins came off suspension to play against Minnesota as well. QB Dak Prescott is expected to practice in full starting on Thursday after missing his first start of the season.
Lawrence, DT Neville Gallimore, LB Francis Bernard and DT Trysten Hill all appear to be making it back in the next month of games.
At 6-1, navigating a multitude of injuries along the way, it’s hard to argue with the front office’s decision-making process in constructing the current roster, but that success doesn’t mean they are infallible when new opportunities arise. Time will tell whether or not Dallas is best served preserving their future assets instead of pushing more chips into the middle of the table.
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