Cowboys would be crazy to trade Dez, and there’s no chance they will

It’s always interesting to hear a former player or an analyst make a bold statement about something an NFL team should do. The main reason is because it’s usually completely ridiculous and not even close to being possible. Recently, former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb during a radio interview, said the Dallas Cowboys should trade star wide receiver Dez Bryant. After making the statement, there was immediate intrigue by many about the idea of the Cowboys trading Bryant, but fortunately owner Jerry Jones didn’t wait long to shut that rumor down before it really started.

Jones was on 105.3 The Fan’s G-Bag Nation show, and stated the following, per Jon Machota of The Dallas Morning News:

“That’s actually the very first I’ve seen or heard of that,” the Cowboys owner and GM said Friday. “That’s absurd. We may have been blessed with our depth because we’re having some young receivers come on, but make no mistake about it, Dez Bryant’s a major difference-maker. We got a long way to go. He singularly can make a difference in big games. We’re anxious to get him back.

Jones then hammered home the fact that the rumor wouldn’t be happening, saying it’d be a “bad dream” to think about Bryant being traded.

“There are no plans, no thought, I’ve not even had a bad dream about trading him.”

While it was great to hear Jones immediately deny any possibility of that happening, it was pretty unrealistic to imagine that happening. McNabb’s whole idea behind trading Bryant (and quarterback Tony Romo) was that the Cowboys could build around youth such as quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott. On that note, though, Bryant is set to turn 28 in November, and while he’s been slowed by injuries over the past two seasons, it’s hard to argue that even at 28 (which isn’t necessarily old) that he can’t be in the top-tier of wide receivers in the NFL for years to come.

While it’s looked as though Prescott and the Cowboys haven’t needed Bryant over the past three games as they’ve reeled off three-straight victories, there’s no doubt about it that the Cowboys’ No. 1 wideout is poised to do big things when he returns. The dominance of Elliott has only helped to ease the pressure off the passing game, while Prescott’s ability to run the read-option and his willingness to hit the open receiver (whoever and wherever that may be) is going to be huge for Bryant moving forward.

The Cowboys not only shouldn’t trade Bryant, but they’d be crazy to. The argument that Dallas needs the cap space is a fine one to make if talking about Romo, specifically, but for Bryant, it’s a completely different situation. The ages aren’t really fair to compare, and the fact that the Cowboys already have a potential replacement for Romo is also something that needs to be factored in.

When Bryant is healthy and back in the Cowboys lineup, he should be primed to put up big numbers and potentially set new career highs for a single season at some point over the next few years.