DALLAS — Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said the team has serious financial room to make a trade right now, and that Dallas is in play around the NFL.
Jones spoke Tuesday morning during his weekly in-season appearance on the Shan & RJ show on 105.3 The Fan.
The Cowboys created more than $19 million in cap space last week by restructuring the contracts of Kenny Clark, DaRon Bland, and Jake Ferguson.
Dallas went from roughly $14.2 million in room to more than $30 million.
Jerry Jones On The Dallas Cowboys’ Cap Room
While the created salary cap flexibility can be spent on this year’s team, Jones explained how the cap spills across multiple seasons. If a trade develops, they can take full advantage of the opportunity.
“It certainly can be used for this year’s team, and the timing is pretty conspicuously obvious,” Jones said. “Yeah, we could use it for this year’s team. But that thing is fungible. The cap’s fungible, and it laps over into multi-years, at least two, conceivably three or four, on parts of any money you make available. Now, I know that’s hard to put your finger on, but it is hard to put your finger on. But that does show that we have really viable, serious room financially to make a trade if we wanted to right now.”
Since March, Dallas has also reworked the deals of Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, Tyler Smith, Terence Steele, and Malik Hooker. The March restructures of Prescott, Lamb, and Smith cleared roughly $66 million and moved the Cowboys under the $301.2 million cap. George Pickens carries a $27.3 million franchise tag number.
Jerry Jones On Trade Talks And Draft Capital
During training camp, Jones described substantive conversations with other front offices and said he had been on a call the day before.
Jones didn’t share specifics on what the Cowboys are working on with that flexibility, but made clear it could be leveraged to improve the team this season.
“The best way for me to answer that is not timing-wise right on something this morning or this week,” Jones explained. “But if you look at it generally speaking, we’re in play. And that’s the best way to describe it.”
The Aug. 29 trade for Broderick Jones cost Dallas third- and sixth-round picks in 2027 and brought back a fourth-rounder, leaving the Cowboys with five selections in next year’s draft. Jones is not concerned about that figure.
“You want all the picks you can get, but this time of the year what you’re interested in is what you’ve done with the picks that you’ve used, and what you might be able to do if you could add to bringing talent on the roster,” Jones said. “We’re still alive and well in that area, but picks are important. That’s your consideration for the future when it gets to the draft. But what’s top of mind for me right now is getting the best team we can put on this field.”
Dallas also traded tackle Nate Thomas to the Houston Texans for a 2027 seventh-round pick during cutdowns. The Cowboys begin the regular season with a matchup against the New York Giants on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with kickoff set for 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.
