The Dallas Cowboys are currently enjoying being the second-biggest talking point in the Dallas Fort Worth area after the Mavericks stunningly traded superstar point guard Luka Doncic.
The shockwave-inducing trade gives Jerry Jones the opportunity to lay low for a while while the Mavericks and general manager Nico Harrison are lambasted for trading away a top-five player in the NBA who still hasn’t hit his prime.
Of course, laying low does not come easy to Jones. Cowboys fans are convinced he’ll do something this week to steal the spotlight back from the Mavericks.
Extending Micah Parsons would accomplish exactly that and it would also restore some hope amongst the fan base. However, what if the 82-year-old did what he didn’t during Dallas’ search for a head coach and swung for the fences to transform the roster?
That opportunity is suddenly available after Browns superstar Myles Garrett released a statement on Monday requesting a trade.
“While I’ve loved calling this city my home, my desire to win and compete on the biggest stages won’t allow me to be complacent,” Garrett writes. “The goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl. With that in mind, I have requested to be traded from the Cleveland Browns.”
Simply put, Cowboys fans would forgive Jones of all of his sins as general manager if he traded for Garrett. There are too many sins to comb through, but acquiring Garrett would propel Dallas into the Super Bowl conversation.
Pairing Garrett with Micah Parsons would give the Cowboys arguably the two best defensive players in the sport.
Garrett is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and he’s a finalist for the award again this season after accumulating 14.0 sacks and 28 quarterback hits. He led the NFL with 22 tackles for loss and a 23.1% pass-rush win rate, per PFF and, tied for first with 83 pressures. Over the last two seasons, Garrett is second in pass-rush win rate only to Parsons despite getting double teamed on 30% of his rushes.
If Jones wants to push all of his chips to the middle of the table, he would call Browns general manager Andrew Berry and offer two first-round picks and whatever additional compensation is required to land Garrett.
Unfortunately, Cowboys fans know how this story ends. The Cowboys will likely be mentioned as a landing spot as a leverage play by Garrett’s agency only for the player to end up with an actual contender – probably the Eagles or a team of that ilk that is actually serious about winning.
The opportunity is there, though. Let’s see if Jerry acts on it.