Why the Dallas Cowboys not trading for Jamal Adams was a good move

The Dallas Cowboys reportedly were considering a trade for New York Jets safety Jamal Adams. Sometimes, the best trades are the ones you don’t make.

The Dallas Cowboys have made midseason trades two years in a row. Last year it was for wide receiver Amari Cooper and this season it was for defensive lineman Michael Bennett.

The Cowboys apparently were not finished this year as they were actively pursuing New York Jets safety Jamal Adams up to the 4:00 PM eastern trade deadline on Tuesday. Adams would fill a glaring need that has not been filled since should-be Hall of Fame safety Darren Woodson retired in 2003.

Adams, who played his high school football at nearby Hebron High School in Carrollton, Texas is a third-year safety that the Jets drafted sixth overall in the 2017 NFL draft. Pro Football Focus rated him the second-best safety in 2018.

According to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News, the Cowboys offered a first-round pick and were willing to pick swap later round picks. The two teams were negotiating up to the final seconds.

Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make. Certainly, Cowboys owner and General Manager Jerry Jones is not regretting the missed opportunity to trade up in the 2016 draft to pick quarterback Paxton Lynch who was cut by the Broncos prior to the 2018 season settling instead for fourth-round quarterback Dak Prescott.

In time, the inability to acquire Adams will be viewed the same way. Adams will be entering the last season of his rookie contract next season and will have his fifth-year option picked up. He would be a reasonably priced safety in 2020 had the Cowboys completed the trade with a $3.5 million cap.

The Cowboys will soon be short on cap space assuming they reach deals with Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper. The 2019 roster will have seven players with cap hits greater than $10 million: offensive linemen Tyron Smith, Zack Martin, and Travis Frederick, running back Ezekiel Elliott and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence.

The bigger issue is the draft pick compensation the Jets wanted. While Dallas was willing to surrender their first-round pick, it would have significant ramifications for the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons when the roster will be top-heavy with their star contracts.

In order for Dallas to compete in the future, they will need to find multiple diamonds in the rough as they won’t have the salary cap resource to pay any players a second contract. Assuming Prescott and Cooper will get top three contracts, the Cowboys will have about $148 million invested in nine players: Prescott, Cooper, Frederick, Smith, Martin, Lawrence, Elliott, La’el Collins, and Jaylon Smith.

If the cap rises $10 million per year as it has over the last seven years, the Cowboys would have $60 million to pay 44 roster players and a practice squad. That averages to $1.35 million per player.

In order to find the players that will be contributors, the Cowboys will need to consider trading their first-round picks for multiple Day Two draft picks. In 2013, the New England Patriots traded the 29th pick in the draft for second, third, fourth and seventh-round draft picks. This is the type of trade the Cowboys need to consider with their first-round picks each year for the next four years.

The price for paying for so many stars is going cheap on the bottom 40 players and the best way to find cheap players is to draft them. Dallas needs to make at least ten picks in the next four drafts so that the young players will have time to develop and be contributors in the second or third seasons.

Cowboys Nation will discuss the front office’s inability to close the deal for Jamal Adams in the days, weeks and even years to come. Not many will realize that the best move for the long-term was to not make this trade.