The Jerry Jones grift continues.
After Sunday’s loss to the Falcons, the Cowboys’ owner and G.M. suggested that his team would make a couple of moves in advance of the trading deadline. He also declared that he’s still “all in” for 2024.
The trade he made, however, isn’t about 2024. It won’t change a thing in 2024.
The Jonathan Mingo trade is all about 2025 and 2026.
With receiver CeeDee Lamb getting $35 million per year, the Cowboys need other receivers at much lower cost. They now have Mingo at a base salary of $1.55 million in 2025 and $1.957 million in 2026.
The willingness to sacrifice a 2025 fourth-round selection shows that they thought highly of the 39th overall pick in the 2023 draft by the Panthers, and that they don’t hold his average-at-best performance to date against him. They opted to give up the ability to select a player next year who could develop into a quality player (Dak Prescott, for example, was a fourth-round pick) to have certainty. And they believe with sufficient certainty that Mingo will contribute.
But not in 2024. Not enough to make a difference. This is about finding ways to put good players around a roster that is top heavy with bloated contracts that became even more bloated because the Cowboys have a bad habit of dragging their feet as to the players they will inevitably pay.
