Injuries were starting to become a concern prior to the Dallas Cowboys trip to Brazil. They are even more so now heading into Week 4 to take on their interstate rival, the Houston Texans. It was recently announced safety Jalen Thompson, defensive tackle Jonathan Bullard, and cornerback Shavon Revel are expected to miss multiple weeks with injuries, which will severely deplete Dallas’ defensive depth even more.
Here’s a list of the Cowboys current injured players on defense:
- LB DeMarvion Overshown (hamstring, multiple weeks)
- CB Cobie Durant (hamstring, multiple weeks)
- S P.J. Locke (foot, IR)
- S Malika Hooker (forearm, multiple weeks)
- S Jalen Thompson (hamstring, IR?)
- DT Jonathan Bullard (calf, multiple weeks)
- CB Shavon Revel Jr. (knee, multiple weeks?)
- LB Marist Luifau (hand, IR)
That’s eight defensive players
who were expected to play a role the Cowboys will have to find a way to replace for multiple weeks. And to make matters worse, more than half of them are in the secondary. As a result, Dallas is running out of bodies to deploy at both safety and cornerback.
It’s no wonder they were one of the teams joining an interest in training for Pittsburgh Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr. last week prior to their trip to Brazil. He’d be an immediate upgrade at CB, but Jerry Jones is going to pay a hefty price, both in draft capital and in a long-term extension, to bring this trade to fruition.
Instead of trying to pull of a blockbuster trade to land Joey Porter Jr., the could target some more cost effective players to acquire via trade to help their injury decimated secondary. Below are three options they should kick the tires on.
CB Kris Abrams-Draine, Denver Broncos
Abrams-Draine is currently buried on the depth chart in Denver and only has three starts under his belt in two years in the league. Despite that, the former 2024 fifth-round pick has shown starting ability when given the opportunity and could immediately help the Cowboys depth issues at CB if acquired via trade. He still has the remaining of this year and next season playing on his rookie contract and shouldn’t cost more than a future Day 3 draft pick.
CB Nahshon Wright, New York Jets
Reuniting with Wright could be a win-win for everyone. He was a former third-round pick by the Cowboys in 2021 and before being traded to the Minnesota Vikings for Andrew Booth in 2024. After his brief stint in Minnesota, he signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Bears where he had a Pro Bowl season with five INT’s. He’s now with the New York Jets on a one-year, $5.5 million deal, but has been a healthy scratch so far this year. A future Day 3 draft pick could land him as well.
S Jessie Bates III, Atlanta Falcons
Bates has been one of the better ball-hawk safeties in the league for years now. It’s rumored he could be available for trade and Bleacher Report has his current value as a future fourth-round pick. He would be the most costly option on this list, but also is the only one with years of starting experience in the league. It probably wouldn’t take them as long to get up to speed on Christian Parker’s scheme, making him the most plug-and-play trade target.
