Last offseason, the headlines focused on how bad the Dallas Cowboys’ run game was going to be, and for half a season, it was right—really bad.

But once Rico Dowdle got the keys to the starting role, things took a turn for the better.

Rico is now with the Carolina Panthers, and the Cowboys’ running back room consists of two free agent signings, Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders, along with Deuce Vaughn and Malik Davis.

This has led many, and rightly so, to Dallas taking a running back early in the draft to help give the offense some much-needed juice behind Dak Prescott.

But Pro Football Network, in naming a player from each team to be traded, lands on James Cook for the Bills, but has Dallas as a potential landing spot.

“Dallas has a connection to Cook with Ken Dorsey, a Cowboys assistant who was Cook’s offensive coordinator in Buffalo from 2022 until he was fired after Week 10 of the 2023 season,” Pro Football Network writes.

Right, there’s a bit to work through here, and yes, this is just an exercise in “what ifs,” but if we advance the ball only slightly, there are 3 big stop signs to be held up regarding Dallas getting Cook.

We have heard Cowboys’ COO Stephen Jones talk previously about looking at all the details when it comes to trading for players, and he mentions a term that will end any speculation of Cook arriving in Dallas – double-dipping.

What does Stephen mean?

First, when trading for a player, that usually means draft picks going the other way, and Dallas has 10 picks in the upcoming draft, so that is doable, but what isn’t is what’s next.

Secondly, Cook wants an extension to be roughly $15 million ΑPY.

Αre the Cowboys paying that? No chance.