The Dallas Cowboys’ defense has holes everywhere on the field. Players in the secondary are leaving receivers wide open, while the linebackers aren’t filling the right gaps or doing their job in coverage. It’s no wonder that this defense is ranked dead last in the league.

That is officially messing with Jerry Jones’ plan to cook up a potential blockbuster trade before the deadline.

The deadline has been a resource for Jerry Jones to make moves to improve the team. He did it with wide receiver Roy Williams back in 2008, Amari Cooper in 2018, and nose tackle Johnathan Hankins in 2022. But if we’re being honest, the defense has been too abysmal to the point that using a first-round pick in a trade this season wouldn’t matter much.

NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms on Pro Football Talk said the Cowboys should ride their Dak Prescott magic carpet ride and save their picks for the respective drafts in 2026 and 2027. Simms’ reason is that the Cowboys’ defense is damaged enough that a trade for a defensive playmaker this season wouldn’t be of much help.

“I wouldn’t want to sacrifice future years of what (the Cowboys) could be next year or the year after just to make our defense go from the worst in football to the third-worst in football. Like, that’s not worth it. ”

Chris Simms

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has a clear decision to make with his trade assets

Simms’ argument comes with some flaws.

Cowboys fans can agree that Jones is in a tough spot to either take the leap of faith to trade for a star defender or wait to choose from a loaded draft pool of talented young defenders. The outcome of a mid-season trade to move a few spots up from being the worst defense to the third-worst could make little to no difference.

However, Prescott and the offense are playing at an elite level, so a trade that takes the defense from atrocious to just bad might be exactly what the Cowboys need to reenter the playoff picture.

The Cowboys’ offense is ranked first in offensive yards per game, and Prescott is playing arguably better than any quarterback in football. A mid-season trade may be the only band-aid Dallas needs to salvage the season.

You can’t say enough about the way Prescott and the offense have been putting this team in position to win in nearly every game this season. The exception was against the Bears when CeeDee Lamb went down with an injury, but other than that, the offense has been executing at a ridiculous level, while the defense looks completely lost.

Cowboys fans will be watching closely to see what the Joneses will do before the Nov. 4 trade deadline hits. History shows that the Joneses aren’t opposed to making big moves during the season, but the clock is ticking to save the season.