Why the Cowboys could struggle to trade any surplus players

Q: Why might the Dallas Cowboys struggle to trade surplus players?

The Cowboys have a solid two-deep depth chart, which limits the number of surplus players available for trade.

Q: Who are the potential trade candidates for the Cowboys?

Malik Hooker and Markquese Bell are potential trade candidates, but their value may be limited due to their roles and performance.

Q: What does the Cowboys' depth chart look like for the upcoming season?

The Cowboys are expected to have 24 players on defense, including 11 defensive linemen and 10 defensive backs.

Q: How does the Cowboys' defensive roster compare to the Eagles'?

The Cowboys have 27 players on defense compared to the Eagles' 24, indicating a deeper roster this season.

October 8, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; Dallas Cowboys guard T.J. Bass (66) warms up before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images A few days ago, ESPN published an article in which Aaron Schatz looked at the biggest remaining roster holes for all 32 NFL teams following the draft. When reading through those various needs, thoughts arose about whether the Cowboys could be potential trade partners to fill those holes, and whether the best value of some players on the Cowboys 90-man roster is in the draft capital they might be worth in a potential trade. But before we look at other teams’ needs, we first have to figure out whether the Cowboys have any surplus players at all, and in that context, Schatz makes a somewhat surprising claim about the Cowboys in the article.

“The Cowboys have a surprisingly solid two-deep across their depth chart.” After years of deriding the Cowboys for their stars-and-scrubs approach and the accompanying lack of quality depth across the roster, that line was jarring, but upon further inspection it felt true. The Cowboys may not have world-beaters at every starting position – and Schatz points out that while edge rusher isn’t a hole per se, the position still has questions for the Cowboys – the talent at the second level looks more promising than it has for years. The Cowboys won’t issue a depth chart until the first preseason game, so we’ll turn to the Ourlads.com depth charts (which are usually quite accurate) to see what the depth currently looks like for the Cowboys, starting with the defense. First though, we’ll look at how many players made the season opening roster last year for Vic Fangio’s, and by extension Chris Parker’s, defense in Philly and compare that to the Cowboys’ numbers: Philly Wk1, 2025: **10 DL** (incl. OLBs), **4 LBs**, **10 DBs** (6 CBs, 4 S) Dallas Wk1, 2025: **11 DL**, **6 LBs**, **10 DBs** (6 CBs, 4 S) The Cowboys started the season with 27 players on defense, the Eagles started with 24. For our purposes, we’ll assume the Cowboys follow the Philly model this year, with 24 defenders and the same split the Eagles had last year. This is what the presumptive depth chart would look like: body .sbnu-legacy-content-table td, body .sbnu-legacy-content-table th, body .sbnu-legacy-content-table { border: 1px solid #000 !important; border-collapse: collapse !important; } | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **Pos** | **Starter** | **Backup** | **Depth 1** | **Depth 2** | | **LOLB** | **Gary, Rashan** | **Lawrence, Malachi** | Liufau, Marist | Land, Isaiah | | **DT** | **Williams, Quinnen** | **Overton, LT** | Odeleye, Adedayo | | | **NT** | **Ogbonnia, Otito** | **Toia, Jay** | Dunn, Tommy | Gilliam, Kelvin | | **DT** | **Clark, Kenny** | **Bullard, Jonathan** | Withers, DJ | | | **ROLB** | **Ezeiruaku, Donovan** | **, James** | Williams, Sam | Wheat, Tyrus | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | **LILB** | **Overshown, DeMarvion** | **James, Shemar** | Robinson, Curtis | Patterson, Langston | | **RILB** | **Winters, Dee** | **Barham, Jaishawn** | Barron, Justin | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | **LCB** | **Bland, DaRon** | **Moore, Devin** | Carson, Caelen | Butler, Josh | | **RCB** | **Durant, Cobie** | **Revel, Shavon** | Bridges, Trikweze | Kendrick, Derion | | **NB** | **Downs, Caleb** | **Steward, Reddy** | Ballentine, Corey | Childress, Zion | | **SS** | **Thompson, Jalen** | **Bell, Markquese** | Wood, Julius | | | **FS** | **Hooker, Malik** | **Locke, P.J.** | Clark, Alijah | | | | | | | | | **Legend** | **Bold = Top 24** | Free Agents/Trade | Draft Picks | UDFAs | The starters and backups (marked in bold) add up to 24 players, so that’s the Cowboys’ presumptive defense at this point. At first glance, that leaves the 19 players in the depth columns as excess players, but do any of them have any trade value? and Caelon Carson might draw some moderate interest based on their draft pedigree and the two years left on their rookie contracts. But do the Cowboys really want to give up on either player after just two years? Probably not. There might be more interesting trade options among the presumptive starters, and two players stand out here. is listed as the starter by Ourlads, but he might be already have been relegated to backup by this point. In any case, the Cowboys brought in two safeties via free agency and one via the draft. There might not be a lot of snaps left for the fourth safety, and if the younger guys push hard enough in training camp, Hooker, a former first-round pick, might make some interesting trade bait for the Cowboys. And if the Cowboys decide to stick with Hooker, might be an interesting, low-cost alternative for a safety-needy team. The Cowboys would have to take a $6.2 million cap hit in a trade, but the trade partner would get a 27-year-old safety, with four years of experience, who is under contract for two more years at a ridiculously low $3.8 million over those two years. On offense, it’s equally important to understand how the Cowboys started last year: