Cowboys Urged to Make Trade With ‘Wide Open’ Playoff Race
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Dallas Cowboys quarterback Drake Maye.
Of all the weeks to be playing on Monday Night Football, Week 9 seems like the perfect setup for the Dallas Cowboys as far as understanding what might be gained with a win over the struggling Arizona Cardinals.
The Cowboys got to sit home on Sunday and watch one potential NFC playoff team after another fall — specifically 2 teams right ahead of them with upsets of the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. That means the Cowboys, who are 3-4-1, can actually gain significant ground by beating the Cardinals.
It also put the Cowboys in a position where they almost have to make a move ahead of the NFL trade deadline on November 4.
“Both Green Bay and Detroit lost today, the Cowboys hopes remain in a parity filled NFC where there is no juggernaut,” Cowboys reporter Clarence Hill Jr. wrote on his official X account. “It’s wide open as it’s ever been. Jerry Jones should make a trade.”
According to NFL.com’s latest playoff picture update, the Cowboys are just one game out of taking the seventh and final playoff spot in the NFC from the Lions.
The Cowboys’ NFC East rivals and the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles currently hold the No. 1 seed in the NFC while the Indianapolis Colts currently hold the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Cowboys Have
If we were doing a draft in which we got to pick NFL offenses, you can make a good argument for taking the Cowboys at No. 1 overall.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has been playing at an NFL MVP level for most of the season to go with an elite offensive line, above average running back in free agent Javonte Williams, a pair of Top 5 wide receivers in CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens and what looks like another Pro Bowl season from tight end Jake Ferguson.
The problem is the defense. They’re terrible.
The Cowboys are ranked 31st out of 32 NFL teams in team defense and are giving up just a shade over 400 yards per game.
Which Players Fit Cowboys Best in Trade
The Cowboys are in desperate need of an elite pass rusher, with fans pining for either Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson or Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby.
“If the Raiders don’t want to trade Crosby and he doesn’t want to get moved, that should end the trade talk around him,” Heavy’s Austin Boyd wrote on October 26. “There will likely continue to be rumors, but it looks like a certainty that Crosby will still be on the Raiders’ roster at the end of the season.
Crosby, who signed a 3-year, $106.5 million contract extension in March, has indicated he doesn’t want to leave Las Vegas.
“So the Raiders told them, they’re not moving him, but also Maxx Crosby said, ‘I don’t want to go anywhere,’” Jay Glazer said on “Fox NFL Sunday.” “There was one team that called me and said, ‘Hey, could you find out?’ I said, ‘Nope, he doesn’t want to go,’ and a team said, ‘Man, we love him because of his loyalty. Wish he wasn’t, though.’”
Commanders' nightmare loss to Seahawks continues to get worse with more unfortunate injury updates
The season is officially over for the Washington Commanders, and the nightmare somehow continues after the worst night in recent memory for this franchise.
The Commanders got blown out at home in primetime during a night that was supposed to be special with the throwback uniforms and Art Monk jersey retirement, but it turned into fans leaving in the middle of the second quarter, and a gruesome injury. You can move on from a loss, but seeing Jayden Daniels go down with a severe elbow injury was gut-wrenching.
Daniels' injury wasn't the only significant injury last night, as the hits continue with two more season-ending injuries
Luke McCaffrey suffers a season-ending injury
The game barely started before the Commanders suffered yet another injury, and wide receiver Luke McCaffrey went down after returning the opening kickoff. He went down awkwardly on his left side, which is now being diagnosed as a broken collarbone that will have him out for the rest of the year.
McCaffrey was starting to really find his role in the offense and special teams, and now his season comes to an end. He was second in the league in kickoff return yards with 769, and also averaged 18.5 yards per catch. The Commanders turned to McCaffrey after injuries to Terry McLaurin and Noah Brown, and he was showing a lot of promise with multiple tough catches.
He should be part of the offense next season, but another injury just shows even more how badly this team needs help at the position. The Commanders added Treylon Burks and hope to get a roster win from him, but major changes need to happen with McLaurin and Brown injured, and Deebo Samuel not under contract next season. The defense is another conversation, and they lost another starter for the rest of the season.
Marshon Lattimore is feared to have torn an ACL
The defense was an embarrassment once again, with the Seahawks blowing the team out before halftime, and it never got any better. Busted coverage and wide-open explosive plays were all over the field, and major changes need to happen on and off the field. It got even worse for Marshon Lattimore, who went down with an injury that is feared to be a torn ACL.
There's no easy way to put it, but it was a nightmare night for Lattimore. He played really well last week against the Kansas City Chiefs, but it's time to admit that this trade was a massive swing and a miss by Adam Peters. It's unfortunate to see the season go down like this for Laittmore in what is very likely his last game with the Commanders. He's under contract for next season as well, but I don't expect him to be here after the defense faces an overhaul this offseason, if not sooner.
Injuries have been the biggest headline of the season with multiple starters suffering long-term injuries, and the roster honestly needs an overhaul as well. It will be a long rest of the season, with a massive offseason coming up.
