The Dallas Cowboys currently are 3-3 and have a tough matchup ahead of them on Sunday night against the San Francisco 49ers.
Both the Cowboys and the 49ers aren't in the positions they expected to be in at this point in the season. San Francisco has struggled, and the Cowboys are in third place in the NFC East. With the 2024 National Football League trade deadline quickly approaching, now could be the time to bring in another playmaker.
The running game could use a boost, and because of this, USA Today's Tyler Dragon put together a proposal for Dallas that would land Jacksonville Jaguars star running back Travis Etienne.
"Best fit: Dallas Cowboys," Dragon said. "Tank Bigsby’s emergence has made Etienne expendable. Bigsby leads the Jaguars in both rushing attempts and yards. Plus, he’s produced four plays of over 20 yards, while Etienne only has two. Etienne is a versatile running back who can catch passes out of the backfield, but Jacksonville's preference is to hand Bigsby the football on run plays in between the tackles.
"The Jaguars are headed toward an inevitable rebuild. An Etienne trade can give Jacksonville additional draft compensation. The running back has trade value around the NFL. He’s surpassed 1,400 yards from scrimmage in his first two seasons, and he’s just 25 years old. The Cowboys rank dead last in the NFL in rushing. They average just 3.5 yards a carry. Ezekiel Elliott is past his prime, and Rico Dowdle isn’t a starting-caliber running back. The Cowboys miss Tony Pollard, who they let walk in free agency. Etienne would immediately step in and fill the void at RB.
A deal of this caliber wouldn't cost much more than probably a mid-round draft pick. Etienne signed a four-year rookie deal with Jacksonville worth roughly $12 million. He had a club option on the deal for the 2025 season worth roughly $6 million. The option already has been picked up, so a trade could get him for the rest of this season as well as next year.
Dallas currently has the seventh-most cap space remaining at just over $23 million. The Cowboys can afford Etienne. Why not go out and get him?
