For weeks, the fans and the media have speculated about potential Cowboys trade targets to bolster the roster for a stretch run. However, at 3-4-1, it may be more realistic to look at who Dallas could ship out at the trade deadline.
The Cowboys’ blowout loss in Denver already delivered a blow to their trade prospects, and a Monday Night Football upset at home against Arizona could seal the deal.
You can’t be desperate; if the team is sitting at 3-5-1, with a defense that needs way more than one piece, it may be time to sell.
Who are the guys that could be moved in that scenario? That’s what we’re here to speculate about before tomorrow’s match with the Cardinals.
Here are three Cowboys trade pieces that could be moved out of Dallas by Tuesday.
1. Trevon Diggs: Obvious Trade Candidate After Mountain of Problems
The first name here is obvious to fans: if the Cowboys can’t show life on Monday, the front office has to try to move Trevon Diggs.
Dallas’s former All-Pro cornerback has been on the decline since a 2023 ACL tear, and he now faces mounting injuries and controversies within the organization. It is just time to move on for both sides.
The #Cowboys placed CB Trevon Diggs on Injured Reserve with a concussion. He’s out four games.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 25, 2025
Financially, the team would save a good bit more to cut Diggs this offseason, but if somebody were to send a decent value package for his upside, it would be worth it.
Some may not want to hear it, but Diggs may have played his last game as a Cowboy; if not, we sure are a few games away from that being a reality. It’s his last rodeo in Dallas; it’s just a matter of when the ride ends.
2. Mazi Smith: New Trade Talk Surrounding 1st-Round Bust
Cowboys fans should all accept, at this point, that Mazi Smith is a first-round bust.
When was the last time you were watching a Cowboys game and thought, “Nice play, Mazi!” It just doesn’t happen, and not only because he’s often a healthy scratch. The former Wolverine just doesn’t do much.
I had figured this would lead to him being released before the start of the 2026 season, but NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport has thrown a wrench in that.
Earlier this morning, the insider reported that Dallas is “open” to moving Smith before the trade deadline. Former first-rounders have a long shelf life in the league, and at his premium position, they could net something in return.
Smith generating a sixth or seventh round pick would be a win for the Cowboys. You gain something, and end a chapter that should have been closed a long time ago.
3. Jalen Tolbert: Contract-Year WR Must Be Moved For Anything
Lastly, we have another Cowboys draft pick who never quite worked out: former third-round pick, Jalen Tolbert.
The Mobile, Alabama native and South Alabama standout is reportedly on the trade block, and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out why.
.@BobbyBeltTX on @toddarcher saying #DallasCowboys' WR Jalen Tolbert could get moved
"I don't like revealing trade secrets, but there's a tell each week as to who might be inactive. … Tolbert had that tell yesterday at practice. … That feels like a move that could happen." pic.twitter.com/LzakRMiITZ
— 105.3 The FAN (@1053thefan) October 30, 2025
Tolbert, 26, is in the last year of his rookie deal, and it would be pretty shocking to see him re-sign. Despite an improvement last year, he is now buried on the depth chart for 2025 and in future roster considerations. He no longer has a place in Dallas.
If the Cowboys were able to get even a late-round pick for him, they should do it. He isn’t playing often, he isn’t contributing when he does, and he won’t be back next season regardless.
You might as well take what you can get and start honing the roster for the future, rather than holding on to failed draft picks of the past.
Mazi isn’t a bust…. It’s not his fault he’s had to deal with 3 different defensive coordinators in his first 3 years, and then have those defensive coordinators make him lose weight one year and then gain it back the next year, just to lose it again the 3rd year!! There’s no way a player plays the way he should after going through that much change in that short amount of time!! I guarantee if he was left alone and got to play at the same weight he was when he was in college and when he was drafted, he would be a really good player right now!! So he’s not a bust, he just hasn’t been able to stay in the same shape long enough to get used to playing!! These defensive coordinators need to leave him alone so he can start getting the hang of playing in the NFL, instead of trying to get the hang of playing at a certain weight every year!! And I’m not sure what kind of problems you think Diggs has with the team, but I don’t think it’s true!! And I think he’s too good of a player, (in the right coverage) to be traded away!! He just needs to get his injury dealt with and not rush back for the team this time, and make sure he’s actually 100% before he comes back!!
And I wouldn’t trade Tolbert either!! Despite what some of you think, he’s a good player, and he comes through when needed, and he proved that with the catch he made on the sideline against Green Bay, and then again against Denver when he caught a touchdown from Joe Milton!! He’s good enough to keep around, we never know when we’re gonna need him!! And there’s no such thing as having too many good receivers!! So if we’re gonna trade some players away then it needs to be players we don’t need like Donovan Wilson or Terrence Steele or Jack Sanborn!! Players like that!!
a Dallas Cowboys fan, since the 70’s it won’t matter what trade Jerry Jones make the Cowboys won’t win a super bowl while Jerry Jones is owner and G.M. all the sports media groups need to wake up and realize that and also Jerry Jones