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The Cowboys are beefing up their depth on the interior defensive line with a veteran presence.
Dallas is acquiring 10-year defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins from the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for draft pick compensation, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport. In addition to Hankins, Dallas will also reportedly receive a seventh-round pick in 2024; the Raiders will receive a 2023 sixth-round selection.
Hankins is a 6-foot-3-inch, 340-pound former second-round draft pick of the New York Giants. He had seen action in five games this season for Las Vegas, his fifth year with the club, playing on 37% of the team’s defensive snaps for the season.
Source: The #Raiders are trading DT Johnathan Hankins to the #Cowboys in exchange for draft pick compensation. Some key defensive depth up front.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 25, 2022
Hankins spent his first four pro seasons with New York, where he had been charged with anchoring Big Blue’s run defense. He joined the Colts in 2017 but was released after one season. The Michigan native and Ohio State alum signed with the Raiders in 2018 and had just signed a new contract in April.
His resume includes 133 game appearances in the regular season and 117 starts. He has recorded 366 tackles, 36 tackles for loss, 14.5 sacks, 47 quarterback hits, three forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries. He’s appeared in two playoff games, one with New York and one last season with Las Vegas.
In Dallas, the 30-year-old Hankins will join a DT group that includes Osa Odighizuwa, Quinton Bohanna, Neville Gallimore, and Trysten Hill, all of whom are 25 or younger.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones suggested on Monday that the team would likely not be making any trades with the Nov. 1 deadline approaching.
“We are not looking at needing help from other clubs,” he said via Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He did make an exception, though, if a true game-changing talent were to fall their way.
“Is that Deion out there?” Jones joked. “If we had a shot like that, it would be different. I don’t see that happening.”
Whether Hankins has anything close to that sort of effect remains to be seen. The Cowboys are currently allowing an average of 120.1 rushing yards per game, placing them 20th leaguewide. Dallas’s pass defense, though, ranks fourth in yards allowed, and they’re currently the NFL’s second-stingiest unit when it comes to points allowed.
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