3 top trade targets for Dallas Cowboys before free agency

Much like the offensive line, the Cowboys used to be long set at the tight end position. They had Jason Witten for the better part of 16 years and he served as the ultimate security blanket for quarterbacks Tony Romo and Dak Prescott.

This past season, the Cowboys thought they had their guy in Blake Jarwin, but he tore his ACL in their regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Rams. Thus, they had to rely on Dalton Schultz, who performed admirably in Jarwin’s absence. Despite that, the Cowboys could stand to acquire an upgrade. One name we’re thinking of is O.J. Howard.

The 2017 first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has been in limbo on the team ever since the arrival of head coach Bruce Arians. Howard failed to put up numbers like he did in years past, resulting in countless trade rumors last offseason. Still, Arians and the Bucs had no intention of moving him. Howard finally looked to be breaking out this year, but it came to an end in Week 4 after he tore his Achilles. The Buccaneers were not exactly hamstrung by Howard’s absence, as they still had Rob Gronkowski and Cameron Brate.

Howard had his fifth-year option exercised by Tampa Bay, which is worth over $6 million. If the Buccaneers have no intention of signing Howard to a contract extension, they should be fielding calls to get some draft capital for him. If that is the case, the Cowboys need to be spamming general manager Jason Licht’s phone to finalize a trade for Howard.