The Dallas Cowboys made a handful of moves during the NFL offseason to reshuffle the deck in the running back room after losing 2024 leading rusher Rico Dowdle to the Carolina Panthers in free agency.
Dallas went on to add veteran running backs Miles Sanders and Javonte Williams, while selecting Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah in the NFL draft.
While there is now a big committee of backs to choose from, some still believe the Cowboys should add another body.
The Cowboys Wire recently suggested Dallas should swing a trade with the New England Patriots, who they acquired backup quarterback Joe Milton III from earlier in the offseason, for running back Antonio Gibson, a former division rival who spent four seasons with the Washington Commanders.
Gibson fell behind Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson in New England after signing with the team last offseason, so the Patriots could make him available via trade.
"Gibson, at 6-foot and 228 pounds, looks the part of an NFL RB. He’s a well-built gamebreaker with a thousand-yard season on his resume and breakaway speed in his arsenal. Gibson is a solid pass catcher with elusiveness in the open field," Reid D Hanson wrote. "At face value, he looks a little redundant to Blue’s profile, but with the rookie Blue unproven in the NFL, redundancy might not be a bad thing.
"Gibson isn’t the between-the-tackles grinder Williams is, but he’s a playmaker who can share the load. He would add to the options and largely serve as an upgrade to any other cocktail head coach Brian Schottenheimer could mix together at this point in the summer."
With Javonte Williams as a workhorse back, Mafah as a wrecking ball, and Blue as the dynamic playmaker, making a trade at this point doesn't make much sense for Dallas. Mafah and Blue are unproven at the NFL leve, but they are more affordable and have the upside to be long-term solutions in Dallas.
So, it may be an intriguing idea, but a better option would be keeping the draft capital and rolling the dice with the options they've already piled up.
