ARLINGTON, Texas – On Tuesday at 3 P.M. central time, the NFL's trade deadline will pass. Before then, could the ĂŰĚŇTV be a team that looks to add players to the roster?
That question loomed large heading into their Week 9 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, which Dallas lost 27-17 to move to 3-5-1 heading into the bye week. Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said earlier on Monday that he had a trade in place and the team was working on a few more, and clarified his comments following the loss.
"We have options and one of the biggest options is whether to do it or not," Jones said of a trade. "You ask does tonight, does this win or loss tonight [change anything], I don't know. I don't know. We could conceivably see something that we ought to do in spite of tonight."
"The answer to your question? No, there is no trade right now. We would have to make anything happen tomorrow. I want to be real clear about that. But there is one that I can do Without question, there is one I can do. There is not one, but there is one that I can do and I'm leaning toward doing it."
Jones said the reason why he clarified that there is no trade in place at present is for competitive reasons as they look to hold higher ground in negotiations.
"I just don't want another team, if I'm interested in completing [the trade], I don't want another team to step in and get it. I've had that happen several times, and it happens," Jones said. "That's what's going on out here. And in the NFL, nothing's done until both parties have given their submission to the league office at the same time. And that doesn't even matter. That's why I would say there's no trade."
In light of that, Jones did not discuss many details about the potential trade like which side of the ball it was one or how big of an acquisition it was. He did say however that the option he's leaning towards is one that he feels won't disappoint.
"You won't be disappointed that I didn't get carried away or get all illogical and do something that was all betting on us winning the Super Bowl," Jones said. "I don't think you'll be disappointed."
Where Jones was disappointed however was with how the Cowboys played on Monday night.
"Tremendous, tremendous," Jones said when asked how disappointed he was in the outcome of the game. "Disappointed obviously for our fans. Thought we would play better than this. We just came out and [the Cardinals] had a good game plan. Very disappointed, that's all I can say about that."
Defensively, the Cowboys struggled once again for a majority of the night to get off the field on third down and limit the passing attack, allowing 221 yards through the air. There's been weeks of talk about adjustments that have been, and still need to be made defensively. When asked if that change could come on the coaching staff, Jones pointed to a more holistic need for improvement.
"I'm not commenting on what type of adjustments that may be made," Jones said. "We made adjustments last week. I'm just saying you saw making those adjustments, and this week we made adjustments for this week. And I'm sure there'll be some adjustments this coming week, but the nature of them, whether it's on personnel, whether it's offense, defense, I'm not pinpointing tonight at all."
With all the chatter about the Cowboys potentially being a team to acquire players at the deadline, Jones does not appear interested in the idea of selling players as much as he is trading for external help.
"No, not at all," Jones said. "I like our nuts and bolts a lot. I don't like what's happening to the nuts and bolts, but I like them a lot."
And so that leaves a wide-open window of possibilities for the Cowboys in the coming hours before Tuesday's deadline approaches. Will Dallas spend high draft capital on the pick? What position will it come at? Will there be a trade at all? Only time will tell.
"We'll see what [tomorrow] brings. I would hate to say I wouldn't make a deal and get a deal of a lifetime tomorrow that would cover a lot of bases for us…" Jones said. "I'm being very realistic, we're 3-5-1, and here we are at this juncture. I know the number of games we've got left."
