A view of Dallas Cowboys players' helmets on the bench against the Washington Commanders. Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Cowboys' salary cap space proves Dallas can make drastic move at NFL trade deadline

Originally posted on Dallas Cowboys on SI | By Tyler Reed | Last updated Oct 29, 2025 4:46 PM ET

It's been repeated until fans have been sick of hearing it, but the Dallas Cowboys made a move just before the start of the season that was supposed to make the team better.

Yes, Jerry Jones confidently repeated that trading Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers was only going to make the defense better.

To the surprise of no one, the Cowboys' defense has been one of the worst in the entire league this season. That is why conversations of the Cowboys making a trade before the NFL trade deadline have become a major topic of conversation.

No, one trade isn't going to save this team, or make them a postseason threat. However, according to the latest salary cap report, the Cowboys have the finances to make a major splash before the deadline.

From today's internal NFL cap report, 10 teams with the most space ...

1) Patriots: $48.97M
2) Cowboys: $31.22M
3) Commanders: $26.28M
4) Lions: $23.91M
5) Browns: $21.74M
6) 49ers: $20.81M
7) Steelers: $20.45M
8) Seahawks: $20.16M
9) Titans: $18.75M
10) Panthers: $16.77M
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) October 29, 2025

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated shared the 10 teams with the most cap space. The Cowboys have the second most in the league with $31.22 million.

Not only are the Cowboys in a great place when it comes to the salary cap, but the team got two first-round picks for shipping Parsons to Green Bay.

The franchise has plenty of pieces to play with, but is Jones willing to make the move? As I stated earlier, one move is not going to fix this team.

Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

The defense could use help in the pass rush, secondary, and at the linebacker position. There's a slim chance the Cowboys find all of that help before the trade deadline.

However, now is the time for the front office to fix at least one of those issues. If this defense had just a pulse, the offense is good enough to possibly push them into a deep postseason run.

The Cowboys need to make a move, and need to do it before they allow other NFC squads to grab a player they want.