Brian Martin
This week has been a busy one already for the Dallas Cowboys. They traded Everson Griffen to the Detroit Lions, released Dontari Poe and Daryl Worley, and signed Cooper Rush to the practice squad all in a matter of days.
The Dallas Cowboys might not be done making adjustments to their roster just yet. With the 2020 NFL trade deadline quickly approaching (Tuesday, November 3), it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see a few more players traded away. In fact, a trade may already be in the works.
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Cowboys’ practice report. Xavier Woods’ absence was not injury-related. Feels significant that Zack Martin is a full-go on a Wednesday.Dontari Poe & Daryl Worley aren’t on the report because, as I’m sure you have seen, they have been released by the team. pic.twitter.com/8O6TSsTT6W
There are a number of reasons why Xavier Woods found his name on the injury report for missing practice yesterday. One of them could very well be the fact the Dallas Cowboys are actively trying to trade him. It’s purely speculation on my part, but definitely not out of the realm of possibility.
As one of the few tradable assets, the Dallas Cowboys could be holding Xavier Woods out of practice to keep him from getting injured while they while they actively open trade talks with other teams. We saw the same thing happen with Dontari Poe and Daryl Worley, but failing to find a trade partner they were both released instead.
I wouldn’t be that surprised if Xavier Woods is indeed traded before the deadline next Tuesday. Not only will he become a free agent at the seasons end, but he’s never quite developed into the player the Dallas Cowboys thought he would.
Getting what they can for him now via trade instead of being hopeful for a compensatory pick in the future would be wise on their part. After all, it’s doubtful the Cowboys secondary will be any worse without him. And, it may give younger players like Reggie Robinson a chance to get on the field to prove what they can do.
Again this is purely speculation on my part, however, it’s definitely something to keep an eye on with the 2020 NFL trade deadline just around the corner.
Do you think an Xavier Woods trade is in the works?
Good point. I was thinking the same thing. If Cowboys were going to sign Woods to long term deal, those hopes have been squelched by his play this season. He was one of my favorite players, but it seems he hasnt handled the scheme or regime change well.
Xavier Woods isn’t traded away, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dallas Cowboys tried to bring him back in for you can see on a cheap contract. I think he’s better than the way he’s played this season. I don’t know exactly why he or the rest of the defense has played so poorly this season. To fall so far from last season with basically the same group of players is completely beyond me.
The Cowboys need to clean house!!! McCarthy needs to get players to fit his system!!
I don’t think the Cowboys need to clean house, but they do need to restock/upgrade the defense.
Good write up, Brian. I thought the same thing about Woods being shipped when he didn’t show up on the practice report.
How much of this is about gathering picks, and how much of this is about trying to get rid of possible bad seeds in the locker room? Xavier’s comments about effort could not have been easily forgotten.
Thanks! It’s pure speculation of course, but with how tightly the Cowboys will be against the salary cap next year more draft picks they can accumulate the more players on cheap contracts they can bring into hopefully fill out the roster. I don’t think Xavier Woods is a “bad seed” as you put it. I think has comments about effort got a little misconstrued and taken out of context.
Will Clay losing his touch- or Jerry mucking up the process again?
I don’t think Will McClay has lost his touch at all or that Jerry Jones is mucking up the process. I think the Cowboys have had a run of bad luck and it’s affected the psyche of the team. This team has a talented roster, which is why we expected so much from them this season. I expect vast improvement next season, but as far as this year goes it’s a complete letdown.
Ruben Trevino….. Mccarthy is an offensive mind, he has nothing to do with the defense, that’s Mike Nolans job!! And they’re not supposed to find players to fit their scheme, they’re supposed to make their scheme fit the players!! That’s why this defense is so bad, cause Nolan can’t adjust the scheme to make it fit what these players can do and have been doing before he came along!!
Mike Nolan definitely deserves quite a bit of the blame for the poor defensive play, but the players should be let off Scott for you there. There’s been a lot of undisciplined play throughout the defense with little to no accountability shown.
I think at least 5 more players should be traded or contracts negotiated. Too much pay for very little play..
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dallas Cowboys weren’t listening to all trade offers for anyone currently on the roster. I’m sure they have a few untouchables though.
The Cowboys should have kept Kris Richard. With full control of the defense who knows how the defense would be like now. I think the defense would play hard for him because he knows what he is working with.
The Cowboys should have kept Matt Eberflus way before that. Just look what he’s been able to do with the Indianapolis Colts defense the past few years.
The cowboys should entertain offers for Woods, Crawford, Lewis, and Chido. I hope Chido stays and Dallas signs him back in the offseason, but you have to see what you can get for them. This is a lost season and as much as I hate to watch awful football it also doesn’t help to win 4-5 games this year. You have to look at getting the highest possible draft spot and add as many picks as you possibly can. As you mentioned earlier the cap situation is not going to be good and throwing Dak contract in as well you need all the cheap contracts you get get. Even if you don’t get anything of value for say Tyrone Crawford by trading him you at least save $4M from the cap that can be rolled over.
All of the players he mentioned make sense. Like you though, I’d like for the Cowboys to bring back Awuzie. I think they can re-sign him to a relatively affordable contract.
Great article. I wish you were also writing about a great team, but 1 out of 2 is what we have, so I appreciate it!
When will Jerruh, et al learn that it takes ALL 11 players on offense and defense to be good? If the new coaches schemes aren’t working, then they either need to adopt to the players, or get rid if players of the talent isn’t there. There is a another option though, replace a coach or coaches. They did that a few years ago with the O line coach.
This team is is poorly executing. I am about done trying to watch them. Thank God for the Sunday Ticket !
Thanks for the compliment Greg. I wish I was writing about a winning team as well. I really don’t know who’s the most at fault for the Cowboys failure this year. I think we can point fingers at just about anyone. As far as the defense goes though. I think the players and coaching staff are equally to blame. It will be interesting to see the way the rest of the season plays out and what they do in the off-season to try to correct things.
Hopefully we can trade McCarthy nothing but trash coaching
I think McCarthy will get at least another year to prove himself as the Cowboys HC. We will see other pieces of the coaching staff fired before McCarthy’s job is in any serious kind of jeopardy.
I really hope we can hire Matt Eberflus for head coach just get rid of this staff. Wishful thinking though why Jerry is sold on this guy has me baffled. It’s obvious our offense is solid it our struggle on def mike is off guy but he isn’t calling or designing plays send him out with Nolan hire Matt Eberflus please for Head coach
I really hated when Matt Eberflus left Dallas to take the defensive coordinator job in Indianapolis. I really wanted the Cowboys to promote him to the same position. Maybe they will reconsider him as the next head coach when/if things do finally fall through with Mike McCarthy.
Why does Tyrone Crawford always get a free pass. He has yet to live up to the expectations that garnered him such a large contract. With the money wasted on Lee and Crawford you could have had Jadavion Clownwy. But nope you keep these soft bums around. Why???
Xavier Woods should have been released the moment he made those comments about effort. An average player at best, his departure will have no negative effect on our defense. Bring in players with skill, passion, intensity, and a desire to play hard on every down. Tired of hearing dumb – ass comments. I wish we still had a player like Darren Woodson patrolling our secondary.
Kind of strange since the safety position is such a weakness, but he isn’t very good. Are they going to try Robinson III, the rookie, as a backup safety, because they are running out of bodies back there. They should sign Thomas III and see if he a viable solution for next year as well.
That would be terrible if they trade Xavier Woods. We could be losing good players like he and Griffin all because of extremely poor defensive coaching. We should not lose any more players until a better player replacement has been arranged!!
Noticed Woods playing a lot more Ss instead of his previous Fs. How much is that to do with his struggles?
The problem I see in Woods game is who’s playing next to him. It’s a who’s who at this point, no chemistry, no familiarity and it’s hurting Xavier Woods game, physically & mentally…