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3 worst trades in Dallas Cowboys history

By Lauren Barash

ARLINGTON, TX - NOVEMBER 26: Wide receiver Roy Williams #11 of the Dallas Cowboys looks over to the sidelines during a game against the Oakland Raiders at Cowboys Stadium on November 26, 2009 in Arlington, Texas. The Cowboys defeated the Raiders 24-7. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - NOVEMBER 26: Wide receiver Roy Williams #11 of the Dallas Cowboys looks over to the sidelines during a game against the Oakland Raiders at Cowboys Stadium on November 26, 2009 in Arlington, Texas. The Cowboys defeated the Raiders 24-7. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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Cowboys, Alex Barron
LANDOVER, MD – SEPTEMBER 12: Alex Barron #71 of the Dallas Cowboys lines up against the Washington Redskins at FedExField on September 12, 2010 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) /

All NFL teams make mistakes. The Dallas Cowboys are certainly no exception. Teams make draft mistakes. They give out absurd contracts. They make poor hires. And, yes, they make terrible trades.

Jerry Jones has never shied away from trades. Sometimes Jones makes blockbuster trades that pan out and other times he makes highly questionable decisions.

With the offseason upon us, Dallas has a lot of difficult choices to make about the 2022 roster. With 24 players set to hit the free market in March, who will stay, and who will go? What positions will the front office prioritize in the draft? With their current cap space struggles, will Jones choose to make any trades to fill positional needs? All of this remains to be seen. Until then, we can take a look back at these biggest trade blunders in franchise history.

Buckle up. Because one of these trades was so catastrophic that it ended up on Bleacher Report’s seven worst trades in NFL history list. While we don’t want to reminisce on the ugly moments in Cowboys history, it is important to take a look at the past to learn for the future. Right, Jerry?

Here are the 3 worst trades in Dallas Cowboys history

3. Alex Barron, 2010

This story is a sad tale of promising talent that didn’t deliver. These two former first-round picks simply didn’t live up to their expectations. In May of 2010, the Cowboys traded linebacker Bobby Carpenter to the St. Louis Rams in exchange for tackle Alex Barron. Despite the fact that Barron was benched for disciplinary reasons in a loss to the San Francisco 49ers in 2009 and was highly inconsistent, apparently Jones still thought trading for this guy was a good move.

The Florida State product was the 19th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. He played in 74 of 76 games with the Rams. Several false start and holding penalties (sounds like someone on the current roster… **cough cough Connor Williams**) caused frustration in St. Louis. Dallas likely figured that getting rid of a guy who didn’t do enough would mean that the person they were getting in return couldn’t be all that worse… but they were wrong.

Barron’s biggest blunder? He was called for a holding penalty on what would have been a game-winning touchdown vs. the Washington Redskins in his very first game with the Cowboys. The gorgeous pass from Tony Romo to Roy Williams that would have created a come-from-behind win against a divisional rival was erased. That play was his only appearance of the year and his last with the franchise. Dallas got rid of him before the next season, and Barron never played in another NFL game again. Ouch.

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