Dallas Cowboys Still Working The Trade Market As Stephen Jones Points To Camp As The Window For A Deal

OXNARD, Calif. — The Dallas Cowboys are still looking to add a significant player to the roster two weeks into training camp. Cowboys chief operating officer Stephen Jones said Saturday on the team’s broadcast of practice that Dallas has talked with other teams about trade options and has also been in contact with veteran free agents.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones set the terms for that search when camp opened. Jones said at his opening press conference in Oxnard that he would spend future draft capital to improve the roster before opening day, and he said he had spoken with another team about a potential deal the day before.

“I’d give up future to add substantive to where we are today,” Jerry Jones said.

Dallas has already moved future capital twice inside a year. The Cowboys traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers on Aug. 28, 2025, for a 2026 first-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick, and defensive tackle Kenny Clark. In March, they acquired edge rusher Rashan Gary from Green Bay.

Gary is playing on a two-year, $32 million deal in Dallas. He has 46.5 sacks over seven seasons, including 7.5 last year. Defense has been the stated target throughout the offseason, and edge rusher remains the position to watch for an addition, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Stephen Jones said the Cowboys’ first three draft picks have all been running with the first-team defense. Dallas took safety Caleb Downs 11th overall, edge rusher Malachi Lawrence 23rd overall, and linebacker Jaishawn Barham 92nd overall in the 2026 draft. Jones said the coaching staff as a whole averages five years younger than the group Dallas had last season, and that Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer has been sitting in on defensive meetings under first-year coordinator Christian Parker.

Quinnen Williams Extension Sits At The Top Of The Cowboys’ List

The most likely business the Cowboys conduct may be with a player already on the roster. Stephen Jones said at the opening press conference that Dallas wants to keep Quinnen Williams long term and that the team has been in touch with his representation about how to proceed.

“He’s at the top of our list,” Stephen Jones said.

Williams arrived in Dallas on Nov. 4, 2025. The Cowboys acquired him from the New York Jets for a 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick, and defensive tackle Mazi Smith. The second-rounder became the 44th overall selection. Williams is 28 and signed through the 2027 season.

The interior market has moved twice since the Cowboys arrived in California. The Philadelphia Eagles gave Jalen Carter a four-year, $152 million extension. Jeffery Simmons signed a three-year deal worth $105.8 million with the Tennessee Titans.

On Saturday, Williams’ agent Nicole Lynn of Klutch Sports spent most of Cowboys practice talking with Adam Prasifka, the team’s senior director of salary cap and contracts, The Dallas Morning News reported. Lynn also spoke with Stephen Jones and other members of the front office during the session.

Jones said players are generally willing to look at a deal during camp because they are not into the season yet and can see how the market has moved around them. He said most players also treat the first game as their own deadline, and that a deal not finished by then usually gets pushed to another time. Jones made the comments in an interview with DallasCowboys.com’s Nick Eatman that the team published Friday.

“So I think there’s a window there where everybody’s focused on football,” Stephen Jones explained. “You’re seeing some other deals get done that they might be waiting on.”

Jones said the Cowboys have usually been able to get a deal or two finished during camp. He said the opportunity is there again this year, and that it is not a given.

Cowboys Roster Moves Ahead Of Seattle Seahawks Preseason Opener

The additions Dallas has actually made this week came at the back of the 90-man roster. On Thursday, the Cowboys claimed tight end Zack Kuntz off waivers from the Las Vegas Raiders and placed tight end Princeton Fant on injured reserve.

Fant tore his ACL and partially tore his MCL during the first padded practice of camp on Monday and will miss the season. He has appeared in 11 games across three years in Dallas, including one last season. Kuntz was a seventh-round pick of the Jets in 2023 and has played in 2 NFL games. He signed with the Raiders on July 31 and was waived less than a week later.

The next day, Dallas worked out three running backs on its off day. The Cowboys signed Jashaun Corbin on Friday and waived undrafted rookie Dominic Richardson in the corresponding move. Corbin led the UFL in rushing in 2025, running 97 times for 514 yards and 4 touchdowns for the San Antonio Brahmas. He spent this spring with the Orlando Storm and has played in 6 NFL games, all with the New York Giants.

Richardson signed with Dallas as an undrafted free agent in April and never appeared in a regular-season game. He ran 212 times for 1,065 yards and 5 touchdowns at Tulsa last fall.

The Cowboys open the preseason Saturday at the Seattle Seahawks. Kickoff at Lumen Field is set for 7 p.m. CT on NFL Network.