This Cowboys-Dolphins trade would make Dallas fans eat crow with Jerry Jones

The Dallas Cowboys are looking to rebound from a disappointing seven-win campaign in 2024. We can chalk it up to Dak Prescott's injury, but that feels a bit too easy. Dallas' issues went much deeper, and most of them trace back to Jerry Jones.

There isn't a single franchise in major American sports with the same ownership-GM dynamic as Jones in Dallas. He owns the franchise and he has taken the liberty of making all football decisions, sometimes without input from his coworkers. He famously engineered the pointless Trey Lance trade of his own accord.

Dallas has been struggling under the weight of Jones' ego for a while. Last offseason, he spent months waxing poetic about the difficulties of paying his stars, only to hand record-breaking contracts to Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb at the last second. In the process, he ignored other glaring holes in the roster. His decision to replace Tony Pollard with an aging Ezekiel Elliott was all-time bad. Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Joe Mixon, and Josh Jacobs were all available at discounts last summer.

There is baked-in skepticism for any move Jones makes at this point. As there should be. That said, he can't be too happy about how Dallas's season panned out. Jones loves the spotlight and he won't sit idly while the Cowboys finish below-.500 again. Perhaps now is the moment for an actual big splash.

That leads up to the wayward Miami Dolphins...

This Cowboys-Dolphins trade would pair Tyreek Hill and CeeDee Lamb in Brian Schottenheimer's Dallas offense

It has been a positively strange offseason for Tyreek Hill. The Dolphins wideout essentially asked for a trade in his final postgame availability, then circled back to apologize to Tua Tagovailoa and recommit to what Miami is building. Then he drops this on social media.

Followed by...

Now, we can read this as Hill reacting to negative fans, but it sure feels like a purposeful message from a well-documented malcontent. Did anybody take Hill's apology tour at face value? Star wide receivers have a reputation for making waves and Hill is no exception. There's an out in his contract after this season, so Miami has a decision to make.

The Cowboys don't necessarily need the extra dramatics, but Hill is an electric football player who'd immediately elevate the offense under new head coach Brian Schottenheimer. Prescott's career has been up and down, but he's one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the NFL at full strength. Supplying him with two top-shelf playmakers in Hill and Lamb sounds like a winning strategy.

It's more than fair to wonder if Jones will actually splurge on Hill's $27.7 million contract based on past spending habits, but the Cowboys desperately need a shot in the arm. Jones' penny-pinching led to catastrophic results a season ago. We don't know how much longer this window with Prescott and Lamb extends. Is it for the duration of their contracts? A couple more years? Either way, the Cowboys need to act with urgency.

The hope would be that Dallas can re-sign Hill to a more friendly contract next offseason, keeping him in a Cowboys uniform for his remaining prime. Hill struggled in 2024 with Tagovailoa out of commission so frequently, but he's a year and change removed from leading the NFL in receiving yards (1,799) and receiving touchdowns (13). That dude can still put up numbers, and Prescott is a meaningful upgrade over Tagovailoa.

Jones should think on this one for a bit.