4 Cowboys who deserve to be benched or traded after Ezekiel Elliott

It's raining, it's pouring, every Dallas Cowboys fan wishes Jerry Jones was snoring and not running this organization as the season for America's Team has gone from bad to worse. Losing on the road in Week 9 to the Atlanta Falcons to move to only 3-5 is bad enough, but doing so while losing Dak Prescott to a hamstring injury, while CeeDee Lamb also got hurt, and while Ezekiel Elliott was a healthy scratch and stayed behind in Dallas for disciplinary reasons.

So yeah, suffice it to say that things are in a bad place in Big D.

Jones has all but promised inaction at the upcoming NFL Trade Deadline. It's all too perfect for his brand — that frustrating, abysmal to watch brand we all know — for him to sell Micah Parsons and Daron Bland returning from injury as the Cowboys' big trade deadline moves. However, he and the Dallas front office should consider some moves, just not of the buying variety.

With Mike McCarthy and a coaching staff of dinosaurs, the Cowboys are going nowhere fast this season, especially if Prescott's injury keeps him sidelined for any meaningful length of time. So the Cowboys should move at the trade deadline but do so as sellers. And if they're not trading these players, then they should be benching others. These four players in particular stand out as prime candidates for that.

4. Brandin Cooks could fetch a nice trade return in a busy WR market

When Brandin Cooks arrived in Dallas, it was envisioned that the veteran pass-catcher would be a tremendous asset to help take attention away from Lamb and open up the field for Dak. When healthy, we've seen exactly that from Cooks. However, he's been on the IR since early October with an infection in his knee, though he does seem on track to return from that.

Given the current state of the Cowboys, however, Cooks' return is only going to mean but so much. He doesn't play running back, doesn't play on the offensive line, and doesn't play defense, which are the realest issues that this franchise needs to sort out (though likely in the offseason). And with Cooks now in the last year of his contract, it would stand to reason that trading him away might make the most sense for Dallas.

Cooks isn't the player he once was and would likely fetch something like a fifth- or sixth-round pick in any trade but it's clear at this point that the Cowboys need those picks to replenish a roster that has quickly started to turn downhill. Working in the franchise's favor is the fact that the wide receiver market has started to dry up a bit, which could be a supply and demand advantage for the front office to negotiate with.

3. Cowboys could trade DeMarcus Lawrence instead of losing him for nothing

DeMarcus Lawrence has been a staple for the Cowboys defense since the franchise selected him in the second round of the 2014 draft out of Boise State. While he's never been the electric sack artist that his counterpart, Parsons, has been when on the field, he's been one of the steadiest forces off the edge in the league for what's now a decade.

Unfortunately, that time with Dallas might be coming to a close. Lawrence is a free agent after this season as he plays out the final year of his contract. And with the Cowboys looking to extend Parsons, potentially retain perennial All-Pro guard Zack Martin, and then looking to make other moves in order to strengthen the roster, Lawrence could ultimately be a player who's pushed out due to salary constraints.

We've heard already leading up to the trade deadline just how many teams are looking for help off of the edge. Whether it's the Falcons, Cardinals, Lions or a number of others, it's a premium position that could always stand to be upgraded. You'd be hard-pressed to find many players with a higher floor and still-high ceiling than Lawrence at this point and trading him now, though it would hurt, would feel better than losing him for nothing in the offseason.

2. Mazi Smith needs to be benched with how poorly he's played

There's no world in which the Cowboys after basically a season and a half are going to trade 2023 first-round pick Mazi Smith. For the many faults within this organization, the truth of the matter is that Will McClay and the braintrust outside of Jerry Jones have overall done phenomenally in the draft, and Smith has the raw tools to be another big-time hit at a position of need.

Unfortunately, Smith is miles apart from being a finished or even an effective product at this point in his young career. Entering the eventual Week 9 loss to the Falcons, the second-year pro was graded as the worst interior defensive linemen in the league among all 118 qualified players by snap count according to PFF ($). There really hasn't been much of anything that the Michigan product has done well.

The interior of the defensive line has been a problem area for Dallas for some time and Smith was supposed to be a long-term solution. He's far from that right now, however, and giving him time on the bench might be the best thing for him, giving the majority of the snaps to veteran Linval Joseph and letting Smith hone his craft further so he can be something more than a warm body for the Cowboys defense.

1. A Trey Lance trade is the ideal outcome for the Cowboys

Let me go ahead and preface this by saying that I don't believe that there is any team in the NFL that is either desperate enough or in position to trade for Trey Lance and put the former No. 3 overall pick in position for long-term success. Sure, you could make a case for teams like the Raiders, Giants, Browns, Titans and several others but, again, they aren't that desperate. At the same time, though, the Cowboys traded a fourth-round pick for him and weren't in an obvious position to do so either.

But as of right now, the Lance trade is fully indicative of why Dallas is in the bad place they're currently occupying. Trading a fourth-round pick for him to essentially play mind games with Dak Prescott as the veteran starter was eyeing another contract is completely asinine, especially when the biggest thing Lance needs is reps, something he was never going to get with this team. So at this point, the best option is trying to recoup any draft capital they can — it definitely won't be getting their fourth-rounder back, I can guarantee that — and moving on from Lance.

Again, there are teams for whom Lance would make sense. The four teams mentioned above have no clear long-term answer at quarterback, so giving the North Dakota State product the reps he needs to develop could be a swing they'd be willing to take. If the Panthers moved on from Bryce Young, they could explore an option like Lance as well. But if you're the Cowboys, you should be on the phone calling all 31 other teams to see if they'll take him off your hands. He's not worth it and, frankly, never was.