FRISCO - "Buyer Beware'' is the first message Dallas Cowboys fans should heed when it comes to team owner Jerry Jones' habit of wishing to stir things up in a way to garner unwarranted headlines.
Armed with that knowledge and the approaching NFL trade deadline on Tuesday? Away we go, first with Jones in a transparent headline-grab in his Friday radio appearance, coyly responding to a question about possibly being "aggressive'' at the deadline with a response that sounds substantial ... until you think about it twice.
Said Jones on 105.3 The Fan: "If I see something ... we look for all the meat on the bone that can improve our team."
So, the 3-4 Cowboys are considering changing their minds and being a "buyer'' at the deadline? No. 1, we find that extremely (and excruciatingly) doubtful. And No. 2 ... read it again. That's not what he said.
"Meat on the bone to help our team'' doesn't have to mean an acquisition of a player for the 2024 squad. If you understand the "Blow It Up'' concept, it more likely means the acquisition of a pick that would "improve'' the team ... in 2025.
That - pending a gigantic change of front-office policy - is almost surely what Jones is really talking about here, while being cleverly cryptic about it all.
Having said that: Are there players who could help this team right now who would come to Dallas without major cap baggage?
Sporting News, like so many outlets (with all due respect) blissfully unaware of "Blow It Up,'' is all-but predicting the Cowboys will make a deal with the Cleveland Browns for running back Nick Chubb.
They write, "The Browns need to get Chubb to a contending team's backfield. The Cowboys scream 'good fit,' as they've resorted to Dalvin Cook for help. This makes sense for both teams if the Cowboys are willing to part with a mid-tier trade asset."
Oops. Time to slam on the brakes. Dallas, the NFL's poorest rushing team, could use the help. And Chubb is in the final year of his deal, so that's not a Dallas obstacle.
But ... he's a 29-year-old running back inching his way back onto the field following a major, major knee surgery. Not good. His contract calls for him to make $6.2 million. Not good. We have no idea why the outlet thinks "the Browns need to get Chubb to a contending team's backfield.'' (Why in the world do they need to do that? Oh, and ... Dallas is a "contending team''?)
And there is this: "A mid-tier trade asset''? That is not at all Dallas' plan. The Cowboys - again, pending a sea-change of plan - are "keeping their powder dry'' for 2025, hoarding picks and cap room (maybe $100 million of it), meaning that this sort of "meat on the bone'' idea should be to Cowboys Nation, to repeat ... a "Buyer's Beware'' story.
