Jonathan Mingo trade represents everything wrong with Jerry Jones and the Cowboys

The call is coming from inside the house or, more specifically, from inside The Star. There are a great many problems to diagnose with the Dallas Cowboys, even before the Dak Prescott injury that could land the star QB on Injured Reserve, and why this team is sitting at 3-5 with some of the worst vibes in the NFL. But when you really find the source of all the turmoil, it all is rooted in Jerry Jones. As fate would have it, Tuesday's trade for wide receiver Jonathan Mingo is fully indicative of that.

Ahead of the trade deadline at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, the Cowboys traded a 2025 fourth-round pick to the Carolina Panthers for Mingo and a seventh-round pick. On the surface, that might not seem that bad. After all, Mingo was a second-round pick by the Panthers in 2023, still has 2.5 years remaining on his contract, may just need a change of scenery, and is a player Dallas was eyeing in that draft class. That all adds up to some degree.

Then you start to consider the context of this trade deadline. For weeks now, Jones has been publicly preaching that the Cowboys would ostensibly figure it out and that they likely wouldn't make a move at the trade deadline. Then, following a brutal loss to the Falcons in Week 9 wherein Prescott suffered the injury, he finally found a sense of urgency. And this is the move he came up with.

When you then look at what the Cowboys potentially could've done had Jones not waited while giving up virtually the same draft pick compensation, you start to see why it's all process based.

Jerry Jones is everything wrong with the Cowboys and the Mingo trade proves it

Had Jones not been so adamant that the Cowboys would work their way out of a funk while it was clear that the roster was simply not up to snuff, the Chiefs traded only a conditional fifth-round pick for DeAndre Hopkins. The Bills traded a third-round pick for Amari Cooper — who, by the way, Dallas traded away to Cleveland for a fifth-round pick, less than what they gave up for Mingo — while the Jets sent a third-rounder to the Raiders for Davante Adams. Oh, and let's not forget that the Panthers even traded Diontae Johnson attached to a sixth-round pick to the Ravens for a fifth-round pick.

While I understand Mingo's youth and the belief that he could potentially be far more in what Jones perceives to be a better situation over the next two-plus seasons, it's still a laughable way to do business.

In fact, Jones waited to the point with the Cowboys that this team honestly should've been selling at the trade deadline given their combination of performance and injuries at this juncture. But no, just like with the Trey Lance trade, another move in which Jones needlessly gave up a fourth-round pick for a player who not only hasn't played but isn't even active most weeks, the Dallas front office and specifically their owner fell victim to the simplest of economic principles, supply and demand, only to pay the price for it. And to be clear, it's a massive overpay for a player with 55 career catches in 24 games.

Maybe Mingo works out eventually, though likely not this year given the Prescott injury and what looks far more like a lost season than anything. However, everything in the NFL from the front office to the field should always be process over results.

The process with Jerry Jones running the Cowboys is more than flawed, it's broken and rotten to the core. And even while Dallas is quite literally already paying the price for that on the field, Jones is continuing with that process making deals like the Mingo trade.