Dallas Cowboys Remain Stubborn, ‘Unlikely’ To Trade For Quarterback After Dak Prescott Injury

It looks like the Dallas Cowboys aren’t changing their ways anytime soon.

Following a lackluster offseason that saw the Cowboys fail to address their lack of depth at key positions such as offensive tackle and wide receiver, it looks like Dallas will continue to follow that path when it comes to the quarterback position.

Following Dak Prescott’s surgery on an injured thumb injury suffered during the Cowboys’ season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, team owner Jerry Jones essentially squashed the idea of making a trade for a starting quarterback.

“We don’t have any potential trade in the mill,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan’s Shan and RJ. “It’s unlikely you’d have a veteran quarterback who could get back in here and be ready to play as well as those guys could play, even if you thought you might have a talent advantage. The people who are ready to play quarterback for us are the ones who played all preseason for us: Cooper Rush and (Will) Grier.”

Doubling down on Jones’ comments is a report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Fowler notes that Dallas is unlikely to pursue quarterbacks such as Jimmy Garoppolo and Mason Rudolph via trade. Furthermore, they’re unlikely to sign a “big-name” quarterback such as Cam Newton.

“As of now, the Cowboys do not plan to trade for a starting quarterback, barring an unforeseen development,” reports Fowler. “A source told me that path is unlikely. Dak Prescott’s improved timeline (he has a chance to return in October) and the team’s familiarity with Cooper Rush helps them stay patient here. So, the most likely scenario is Dallas adds a third quarterback via the practice squad and elevates backup Will Grier on game day. I don’t expect the team to sign free agent Cam Newton. Will probably acquire somebody else.”

Prescott will be out for a minimum of four weeks and a maximum of eight weeks. By the time Prescott returns, the Cowboys’ season may already be over.

The Cowboys will opt to go with Cooper Rush as their starting quarterback moving forward. Rush is a 28-year-old quarterback who has just one career start to his name — a 20-16 victory over the Minnesota Vikings last season — and just 63 career pass attempts to his name.

Outside of Rush is the presence of Will Grier, who has three starts to his name and has yet to win an NFL game.

In other words, the Cowboys continue to remain stubborn when it comes to addressing major holes at the most important positions.

Dallas’ lack of receiver depth and key injuries — Michael Gallup and James Washington — directly led to the Cowboys scoring just three points in their season-opening loss to the Buccaneers. The lack of separation Cowboys receivers were able to attain versus Buccaneers defensive backs was worrisome.

No. 1 receiver CeeDee Lamb posted just two catches on 11 targets. A big reason for that was his lack of separation, as he created about two yards between him and the nearest defender, the 10th-lowest mark in the league in Week 1, according to Dan Morse of D Magazine.

Noah Brown — who has zero touchdown catches to his name since entering the league in 2017 — led Dallas with five catches for 68 yards. Two of those catches and a third of those yards came with Rush at quarterback.

After Washington suffered a Jones fracture injury in August that would sideline him potentially into October, Jones immediately shut down the notion that the Cowboys would pursue another receiver. It’s a statement that holds true a month later, as Dallas did not address their glaring depth issues at receiver.

Dallas’ lack of depth at the tackle position led to the Cowboys signing veteran Jason Peters just prior to the start of the season. The problem is, he won’t be ready during the first couple weeks of the season due to being signed so late.

Instead, the Cowboys started rookie Tyler Smith — who played left guard all throughout training camp — at left tackle to fill in for franchise tackle Tyron Smith, who is out for the majority of the season after hamstring surgery.

Needless to say, Dallas struggled while trying to protect their quarterbacks in Week 1. The Cowboys registered a 64.7 pass-blocking grade in the loss to the Buccaneers, ranking 15th among all teams in Week 1. That’s a major regression from last season, where Dallas ranked as the third-best pass-blocking team (80.0 pass-blocking grade) in the league.

The Cowboys’ stubborn nature of running their organization has reached a breaking point. While it’s only one week into the season, the Philadelphia Eagles clearly look like the class of the NFC East. It’s also worth mentioning that the Washington Commanders and New York Giants may not be the afterthoughts that they’ve been in prior years, with both teams winning their first games of the season.

It was clear in the offseason, it became clearer during training camp and it’s even more glaring one week into the season — the Cowboys are regressing.

If Dallas really plans to move forward with Rush as their starting quarterback, Smith as their starting left tackle and no-name receivers outside of Lamb and Gallup, the Cowboys are looking at a losing season.

If that’s the case, Cowboys fans can get ready for the team’s pursuit of Sean Payton as the franchise’s next head coach.