Should Dallas be buyers or sellers as trade deadline nears?

This coming Tuesday afternoon, at 3 p.m. CST – don’t forget to set the clocks back an hour this weekend – the NFL trade deadline will strike.

After the Dallas Cowboys dismantled Washington two weeks ago, the assumption was that the Cowboys would be buyers.

Sunday’s drubbing in Denver swung the needle in the opposite direction. And then some.

At roughly the midway point of the 2025 season, Dallas sits at 3-4-1.

They trail the Eagles by 2.5 games for the NFC East lead. The Cowboys are currently 1.5 games back of the 49ers for the final NFC wildcard slot.

Which begs the question:

Are the Cowboys still in the hunt for either the division or a playoff spot?

The answer to that question is huge. Because that answer will dictate whether the Cowboys should be buyers or sellers this weekend.

The Roster

On offense, the Cowboys appear to have enough weapons to put points on the board. We already know that the special teams unit is rock solid too.

But the glaring holes in the roster are all on defense.

And there are far too many of them for anyone to feel too comfortable.

Even Jerry Jones himself acknowledges the issues with the defense cannot be fixed with just one single trade. They have no consistent pass rush.

This comes from trading away your top defender, who just so happens to have 6.5 sacks this year up in Green Bay.

The reasoning for moving Micah Parsons was that the move would fix the run defense.

The Cowboys run defense couldn’t stop a dead turtle from gaining 100 yards against it.

The linebackers aren’t getting it done. DeMarvion Overshown probably doesn’t play until the Eagles game on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

Nor is there any way to know how well he’ll be able to play when he does come back.

The defensive backs…ugh. Enough said.

The Schedule Ahead

Dallas has upcoming games against the Cardinals on Monday night, less than 24 hours before the deadline, then a bye followed by a game in Las Vegas against the Raiders.

Going 2-0 is not guaranteed, despite the teams’ records. The Cardinals have won the last three meetings, and seven of the last eight, against the Cowboys.

Splitting the next two games would put Dallas at 4-5-1 with games against the Eagles, Chiefs, Lions, Vikings, Chargers, Commanders, and Giants.

Going 3–4 during that stretch is the most likely scenario as things stand now. That puts the Cowboys at 7-9-1 at the end of the year and missing the playoffs.

There doesn’t appear to be any combination of trades out there that would change this outcome.

The Verdict

The Cowboys need to be sellers. They cannot be drunk on “Hopium” regarding the 2025 season.

This team simply isn’t good enough overall to make the playoffs.

And if, by some miracle, they snuck in as the final wildcard, they would get pounded in the first round.

Rather than burn the two first rounders they got from Green Bay, the Cowboys need to be thinking one way and one way only.

A full, complete rebuild.

George Pickens has been a gold mine, especially when CeeDee Lamb went down. Move him for whatever you can get back in draft capital.

Because Jones will not pay him what he’ll command next year.

The same goes for pretty much everyone on the roster.

A serious conversation needs to be had with Dak Prescott about waiving his no-trade clause at the end of this year and moving him off to an AFC franchise.

The numbers he is putting up should draw the maximum amount of return, either before the deadline or in the offseason.

Lamb, Jake Ferguson, Javonte Williams, Brandon Aubrey, and the entire offensive line, with the lone exception of Terence Steele, should be off-limits. Everyone else must go.

One Last Transaction

There is one move that needs to be made if the Cowboys ever want to become serious contenders again.

The Dallas Cowboys need to be sold. Every member of the Jones family must be scoured from The Star in Frisco once the team changes ownership.

Thirty years of failure is enough.

It’s time for new ownership to revitalize this franchise.

Since we can’t trade our owner/GM, we need to find a way to get a new one in place. The sooner, the better.