The Dallas Cowboys entered the NFL season with a $10 million running back in Tony Pollard and with the belief that employing two $10 million running backs is not a cap-friendly idea.
Can that have changed given a) the way a trade before the deadline might alter that price tag and b) the way Dallas has struggled in the red zone?
In what is termed a “realistic” trade scenario proposed by ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, the Cowboys would trade a conditional 2025 sixth-round draft pick in exchange for Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner. And while we often scoff at the sometimes fantasy-football-level concepts that are so often cooked up on the internet, we can make some sense of this one. To wit ...
1 - Conner, the two-time Pro Bowl running back, is 6-1 and 230 pounds and has credentials as a red-zone force.
2 - The Cardinals are 1-5, going nowhere, and should be in fire-sale mode.
3 - Conner, 28, is essentially a $9 million APY running back signed through 2024. But his contract is escapable after 2023, and given that he is currently on the injured reserve list after sustaining a knee injury during Week 5, his trade price figures to be cheap. ... maybe even all the more affordable if Dallas asks Arizona to pick up some of the tab.
4 - Barnwell's guaranteed trade price is essentially ... nothing. A "conditional 2025 sixth-round draft pick''? That "condition'' can be all about playing time or touchdowns or whatever Dallas chooses. If Conner falls short of the target, Arizona receives less than a sixth-rounder. If Conner achieves the target, the Cowboys are better for it and will happily forfeit the late pick.
Writes Barnwell (paywall) of his idea: “The Cowboys wouldn’t owe anything until Conner scores a touchdown in a Cowboys uniform, protecting them from scenarios in which he is unable to play at a meaningful level after his injury. They would owe a sixth-round pick if Conner scores one touchdown, a fifth-round pick if he finds paydirt four times or a fourth-round selection if he scores six touchdowns and/or runs for 500 yards over the remainder of the season.”
As Cowboys Nation knows, Dallas has been productive in getting into the red zone but one of the NFL’s worst teams once it gets there, in terms of touchdowns. Maybe the departure of Ezekiel Elliott has something to do with that. Maybe the lack of offensive line continuity is a factor. Maybe Pollard - who has been fine otherwise - lacks the power to be a closer there.
As a solution, this almost seems like a free lottery ticket. As recently as 2021, Conner ranked second in the NFL with 15 rushing touchdowns - yet he's not a one-dimensional player. Bring him to Dallas with the money being reduced and the pick being compensatory? A Cowboys problem might get solved on the cheap.
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