3 players Cowboys should trade this offseason

The Dallas Cowboys drastically underperformed in the 2020 season, and these three players could be traded elsewhere as a result.

The good news is that the Dallas Cowboys are just two games back of first place in the NFC East with three weeks left in the season. The bad news is that they currently own a 4-9 record and are destined to have a top 10 selection in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Dallas entered this season with plenty of hype and with Super Bowl aspirations due to the impressive additions they made to the team. Those dreams stayed on the proverbial paper, as the Cowboys dealt with debilitating injuries on both sides of the ball and have one of the more historically awful defenses in NFL history.

Given that owner Jerry Jones wants to add another Lombardi Trophy to his office, we can’t rule out players being shipped out. That would definitely benefit the Cowboys, who need to free up cap space and add some much-needed draft capital.

Here are three players the Cowboys should definitely trade elsewhere.

The “don’t pay your running back” crowd is going to love this one. Back in 2016, the Dallas Cowboys selected Elliott out of Ohio State with the fourth-overall pick, which many derided at the time. But, he proved himself to be an instant star on Dallas’ offense. The thing is, many said Elliott had success due to their stout offensive line. Four years later, those individuals were proven right.

This season, Dallas lost offensive linemen Tyron Smith, La’El Collins and Zack Martin to a variety of injuries, with the former two being ruled out for the season. Not to mention that starting quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending dislocated ankle in Week 5. That meant the offense had to run through Elliott, and he hasn’t lived up to his end of the bargain.

Through 13 games this year, Elliott has averaged a career-low 3.9 yards per carry (211 carries, 832 yards) while losing five fumbles, the most the running back has recorded in a single season. To make matters worse, this happened in the first official season of his six-year, $90 million contract.

With these unideal numbers attributed to him, the Cowboys could opt to send Elliott to another team. There are some running back-needy teams (i.e. Pittsburgh Steelers, Miami Dolphins) that could opt to part ways with some mid-round picks for Elliott’s services. Additionally, team’s won’t be on the hook for the entire six-year contract, as Elliott has an opt-out clause following the 2022 season, resulting in a dead cap of $6.7 million, per Spotrac.

Parting ways with Elliott could be difficult for Jones to do, but he must realize there are some solid running backs prospects that he can select in Day 2 of the NFL Draft.