Every reason Cowboys’ Jerry Jones must not sell farm for 2027 NFL Draft picks amid disastrous season appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Dallas Cowboys face a pivotal NFC East game on Monday Night Football. And Brian Schottenheimer said the team could be a trade deadline buyer. And here is every reason Cowboys owner Jerry Jones must not sell the farm for 20276 NFL Draft picks amid a disastrous season.
The Cowboys stand at 2-4. That start would have buried them in most divisions. Fortunately for Jones and company, they live in the lousy NFC East.
So let’s take a look at why the Cowboys should make a play for next year’s draft at the expense of the 2026 season.
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Cowboys are still favored to win the NFC East
The Cowboys are plus-130 to win the division, according to DraftKings via ESPN. That’s better than the Giants (+154) and way better than the Commanders (+600) and Eagles (+700). So why would you be a seller at the trade deadline if you still have a shot at making the playoffs?
Of course, the Cowboys don’t seem to be putting things together. And that’s a problem for Schottenheimer, according to The Athletic.
“(Schottenheimer) has the healthiest talent available and is doing little with it,” Jon Machota wrote. “An offense that didn’t have CeeDee Lamb last year scored 40 points against a Green Bay Packers team with Micah Parsons. When those teams met again on Sunday night, Dallas had Lamb, the Packers didn’t have Parsons, and the Cowboys managed only one touchdown on their first eight possessions.
“Stunningly, Dallas’ defensive issues have taken a back seat the last two weeks to an offense that looks lost. Lamb, Dak Prescott, George Pickens, Ryan Flournoy, Javonte Williams, Jake Ferguson, and the entire offensive line are available. We should be talking about one of the league’s best offenses. Instead, they’ve been playing like one of the worst.”
Yes, there are problems. But we can’t get past the fact that the Cowboys still have the NFC East’s best team. And it’s not even close. The Giants are laughable. The Eagles are toast. And the Commanders? Well, they’ve gone two games now without even knowing for sure what down it is — or so it seems.
It’s not even a stretch to say the Cowboys are a lock to win the NFC East.
The Cowboys have QB Dak Prescott
Say what you want about the way Prescott has played over the last two games. The four interceptions have been a problem. However, in the previous four games, he totaled eight touchdowns and one interception. And he’s still an elite quarterback.
Prescott led the NFL in completions in 2025. And while he’s not on that pace this year, he’s still hitting 66.3% of his attempts.
One of the problems is that the Cowboys have been playing from behind too much, which causes less motion in the offense, according to dallasnews.com.
“You’re trying to go fast,” Schottenheimer said. “You’re trying to keep the defense on their heels. (And) you’re trying to extend the game for as long as you can and get as many ops as possible, because you don’t know what’s going to happen. So that’s the No. 1 thing. And when you shift in motion, obviously the play clock and the game clock go down, and so that limits your ops.
“And that’s a big reason why when you see teams go no huddle, usually receivers don’t change sides. Usually you’re moving one guy, maybe the back and one guy. And you’re trying to do that to stay ahead of the clock.”
Another thing that has hurt Prescott is too much reliance on the passing game. The Cowboys were 16th in the NFL in running plays in 2025. This year, they rank No. 31. Prescott said the team needs to keep running the ball when the game is close.
“Seven points doesn’t change the way that the game should be played,” Prescott said. “It doesn’t change the way that we should attack on offense, not even 10 or 14 points behind in this league. We just have to be cleaner in everything that we are doing. Starting fast and scoring on an early drive definitely helps. But as I said, it starts with the men in the locker room.”
Receiver Ryan Flournoy added: “We’ve got a dominant running back. [Javonte Williams] is a great running back. I think we need to feed him more and really just put our whole offense together. I think defenses can’t stop our receiving corps and our running corps.”
The Cowboys have CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens
It might be easy to look at the team’s record and forget about this duo. But these dudes are still both top 10 in the NFL. Maybe even top five. That’s a great luxury. And there’s no reason to waste a season with these guys.
Lamb has 48 catches for 577 yards and four scores. Pickens has 33 grabs for 428 yards and a touchdown. Sure, it would be great for the Cowboys if Pickens were finding the end zone more often. But this is a duo the Cowboys need to squeeze for everything it’s worth. Who knows if they will be together in 2027?
It seems like defenses are intent on taking Pickens away, according to a YouTube post by 105.3 The Fan via Yahoo.
“We don’t think George Pickens is getting the football enough,” Shan Shariff said. “That’s number one. The following possibilities for that are these. Dak is not seeing him. Dak is not getting it to him. That’s a possibility.
“The defenses are just saying, ‘No, we’re taking George away. He’s not getting it. It’s not going to be an option for you. Brian Schottenheimer is not scheming him open, and it’s a play-caller responsibility. Or George Pickens isn’t getting open. And effort and route running could be an issue.”
Whatever the case, all of those things can be fixed. And the Cowboys need to ride this duo until the season ends. Whenever that is.
Other reasons the Cowboys shouldn’t sell
No. 1 — Jerry Jones is getting older. Who knows how many seasons he has left as an active owner. This year’s team was built with big success in mind. There’s no reason to blow it up and hope the future is better.
No. 2 — The defense still has a chance to be better. There’s clearly enough talent. It’s a matter of getting the talent to function as a unit that can help the team win games.
No. 3 — The offensive line is solid. There’s enough protection for Prescott and the running game to produce victories.
No. 4 — The fans might revolt if the Cowboys sell at the deadline. This year has been Super Bowl or bust. Giving up before the deadline is a white flag the fans won’t take sitting down.
Related: Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer makes brutally honest declaration on facing criticism for 2-4 start