Today is “Cut Day” in the NFL, which means you will see a slew of moves from across the league, including trades of players who won’t make their original 53-man rosters. In Dallas, the Cowboys trade for a former Steelers first-round pick made headlines yesterday.
Dallas, responding to offensive tackle problems that arose this summer, sent a 2027 third-round and sixth-round pick to Pittsburgh in exchange for OT Broderick Jones and a 2027 fourth-rounder.
Jones, 25, made his way to the Steel City in 2023 when Mike Tomlin’s regime traded up from 17 to 14 to select him; the idea then was that the Georgia Bulldog and 2x CFP National Champ would become a stalwart on the Steelers’ offensive line.
Of course, that didn’t happen, and three years and one major neck injury later, the team has moved on by sending him to Dallas.
The immediate reaction has been pretty clear: the fans from both sides and the media see this as an overpay for the Cowboys, who have become accustomed to dealing third/fourth round picks for reclamation projects.
The Overview: Cowboys Trade for Broderick Jones
Jones’s 2025: 57.7 Overall PFF Grade (Ranked 70th out of 89 NFL OT’s), 632 Snaps at LT, Week 12 Neck Injury resulted in Spinal Fusion Surgery (8-Month Recovery Time).
This summer, Cowboys fans have been as optimistic as they’ve been in years, so the negative reaction to this move is not just ordinary “complaining.” The simple fact is Jones has struggled mightily in his NFL career and is now coming off a major neck injury.
What we see on tape, especially in this preseason, isn’t much of a jump from the horrid play of Nate Thomas and Drew Shelton, Dallas’s two main backup OTs before this move.
Take that for as much as you will. #Cowboys
So, the fact that the Cowboys will no longer have a third-rounder in 2027, which is set to be a strong draft class, because they traded for a backup tackle with major concerns, is at a minimum disappointing, and at most, maddening.
This is because yesterday’s overpay for Broderick Jones is not a one-off event; Dallas’s front office refuses to learn their lesson from past moves that mirror this exact case.
Kenneth Murray, Kaiir Elam, Trey Lance, Jonathan Mingo, and Andrew Booth Jr. are all recent trades that Dallas made for former highly touted prospects with little NFL success. Not a single one of these moves has worked out in their favor.
Whether it is ego that is driving them to believe they can turn careers around or just bad strategy, the Cowboys have to call it quits on these moves, even if Jones pans out fine.
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