It feels like the Dallas Cowboys are going to make a move or two in free agency. Yes, we have gotten our hopes up before only to have them dashed at the very end. For all we know the team will sit out the early phase and sign a handful of players at the end. That would be par for the course.
The Cowboys are acting a bit differently this offseason, though. It is objectively fair to say that they are stepping forward with a bit more purpose than in years past. That purpose may not lead to significant
change in overall operation, but it might.
The Cowboys are being linked to Maxx Crosby again
Prior to last season’s NFL trade deadline there were some who wanted to see the Cowboys trade for Las Vegas Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby. They did not do so, but they did make a big-time swing in landing defensive tackle Quinnen Williams.
Crosby remains a potential trade asset for the Raiders, and given that they hold the number one overall pick, it may make sense for them to commit to a rebuild of sorts. This is something that Albert Breer pondered on and he noted that the Cowboys are among the teams keeping tabs on Crosby’s availability.
There’s also logic to the idea that it’s time for Crosby, who very badly wants to win, and the team, to move on. The Raiders will almost certainly have a rookie quarterback playing in the fall, and it could take a year or two to get the roster to where it needs to be. Would Crosby still be in his prime then? Would the Raiders be able to get the same price a year or two from now that they might bring home this week?
These are the questions the Raiders will have to ask themselves, weighing keeping one of the NFL’s best players against having more capital to build a team that Fernando Mendoza has a great chance to grow with.
We should know soon enough which path the Raiders are taking, with teams like Dallas, Chicago, Baltimore, Buffalo, New England, Philadelphia and the Rams keeping tabs on his availability.
There are seven teams listed in the “keeping tabs” category here so Dallas being mentioned is hardly worth jumping out of your seat. It is a tale as old as time for these big names to be connected to the Cowboys only for them to wind up being traded elsewhere.
For what it’s worth, the Cowboys have pretty low draft capital to work with in the name of any would-be trade for Crosby. They have picks 12 and 20 overall in the first round, but they do not hold any second- or third-round picks. You could argue that they could maybe trade future draft capital, but they cannot trade a first-rounder from next year as they are frozen what with Dallas owing the New York Jets the higher of their eventual two selections (the other belongs to the Green Bay Packers from the Micah Parsons trade).
Could Crosby be had for one of the first-round picks this year and something else? Maybe. Anything is possible.
Are you holding out hope? Will you allow yourself to? Or do you think this is a ton of nothing?
