'Pretty Quiet on Our Front': The Cowboys Go Into Deadline Day Saying Nothing Is Brewing — While the Rest of the League Deals
Stephen Jones told Dallas radio the phones were quiet, Jerry Jones said he does not see a move, and Dak Prescott said the roster as built can reach the postseason. The deadline is Tuesday at 3 p.m. Central — and Monday's three trades all happened somewhere else.
The Dallas Cowboys spent deadline eve saying, in three different voices, the same thing: do not expect a trade. Executive vice president Stephen Jones, speaking on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Monday, said the team had not fielded many inquiries from other clubs, according to USA TODAY's live deadline file, which this desk read in full. Jones said it had been pretty quiet on Dallas's end, while adding that the club was making its calls and touching base with all 31 other teams. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones had sounded the same note on the station's pregame show, saying that at this point he does not see a move, according to the Cowboys' own site. And quarterback Dak Prescott, after Sunday's game, said he believes the roster as it stands can play in the postseason. The deadline itself is Tuesday, November 10, at 4 p.m. Eastern — 3 p.m. in Dallas.
The quiet was not league-wide, which is what makes Dallas's version of it news. Monday's completed deals, as logged in the same USA TODAY file, sent Falcons safety Jessie Bates III to Jacksonville for a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 fifth-rounder, Saints defensive tackle Davon Godchaux to Jacksonville as well for a 2028 sixth, and Jets safety Andre Cisco to Detroit for a 2028 sixth. Contenders and rebuilders alike were moving pieces. The one name that brushed Dallas's orbit all day, Jets edge rusher Will McDonald IV, requested a trade on Monday — and Jets coach Aaron Glenn answered that the Jets were in the business of keeping good players and intended to stand pat, McDonald included. This desk carries no Dallas negotiation for any player, because no source read this run reports one.
So the Cowboys arrive at deadline day at 4-5, tenth in the NFC, off a 27-23 win over Indianapolis in which they gained 508 yards and held the Colts to 271 — a performance the front office can plausibly point to as evidence the current group is enough, and one their critics can just as plausibly call a win over a 3-6 team. The calendar does not wait for the argument to settle: San Francisco visits AT&T Stadium on Sunday, the Giants — 5-2-1 and ahead of Dallas in the East — play Washington on Thursday night, and the phone lines close at 3 p.m. Tuesday whether the Cowboys use them or not. If Monday's message holds, Dallas's deadline move will be the one it announced all day: none.
