FRISCO, Texas — Broderick Jones is not all the way back physically, and he said the Dallas Cowboys have already told him where they want him.
Jones met with reporters at The Star on Monday for the first time since the trade. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer told him he is competing for the starting right tackle job.
“I’m pumped up, man. I’m just pumped up, you know,” Jones said. “Like you said, he made it clear where he wants me. So, you know, I just got to do my part and show up.”
Jones missed the end of last season with a neck injury he suffered in Week 12 against the Chicago Bears, and Pittsburgh placed him on injured reserve in late November. He had spinal fusion surgery in March and did not practice until July 30.
“It’s getting there. Not fully to where I want to be,” Jones explained. “I would say probably like 85%, 90%.”
Broderick Jones On His Three Seasons In Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Steelers took Jones 14th overall in 2023 out of Georgia, trading up three spots with New England to get him. He started 38 of the 45 games he played across three seasons and moved between both tackle spots, including 1,694 snaps at right tackle over his first two years before a move back to the left side in 2025.
Pittsburgh declined his fifth-year option in May, a month after drafting Arizona State tackle Max Iheanachor 21st overall.
“For me, I would just say bouncing around, you know, just not being able to get my feet set,” Jones said. “That was a challenge for me, you know. So, you know, just coming in, I just hopefully, you know, I can stick to one side, you know, compete for that, get comfortable, get familiar with it, get familiar to who I’ll be playing next to and, you know, go from there.”
Jones said his mindset shifted after the Iheanachor pick, with his future in Pittsburgh uncertain and recovery ongoing. He called the fresh start something he needed.
Asked which side he would take if the choice were his, Jones did not hedge.
“If I had to pick, it would be left. That’s my more natural side,” Jones said. “It’s really wherever the team needs me, I’ll be willing to play. You know, I play right and left, so I’m not shying away from anything. But, you know, like I said, if I can get to one side and stick there and just work at that, you know, I feel like that would be a big help for me.”
George Pickens Was The First Text
Dallas sent 2027 third- and sixth-round picks to Pittsburgh on Saturday and got Jones and a 2027 fourth-rounder back. The sixth-rounder is the pick Dallas acquired from the Steelers in the George Pickens trade last year.
Jones and Pickens overlapped at Georgia and won a national title together in 2021.
“That was actually the first person I text after I got the news,” Jones said. “I’m like, oh, I’m headed to you. You know, he’s like, let’s go.”
“George is just a freak of nature. I’ll continue to say it,” Jones continued. “I’ve been saying it since college. And he continues to show people each and every year why he is who he is.”
Pickens caught 93 passes for 1,429 yards and 9 touchdowns in 17 games last season, his first in Dallas. He is playing 2026 on a franchise tag worth $27.3 million.
Terence Steele has started all 17 games in each of the last two seasons and played 1,162 offensive snaps last year, 98% of the team total. Tyler Guyton opens at left tackle, and Drew Shelton is the backup there.
Dallas has 13 days until the opener at the New York Giants on Sept. 13. Kickoff at MetLife Stadium is 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.
