For once, Jerry Jones was telling the truth. Jones said after the Dallas Cowboys' Week 9 loss that they have "some things in the mill" regarding the NFL trade deadline, which is just hours away.
With the playoffs looking like a pipe dream, many fans wanted the Cowboys to become sellers and turn the page to 2025. However, Cooper Rush being named the started in place of the injured Dak Prescott hinted Jones isn't ready to give up on the season.
Sure enough, Jones appeared on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday and said the Cowboys will trade for a wide receiver before the deadline. Mere minutes after that quote got aggregated on social media, Dallas struck a deal with the Panthers for Jonathan Mingo.
The Cowboys acquired Mingo and a 2025 seventh-round pick from Carolina for a 2025 fourth-round pick, per NFL Media's Tom Pelissero.
Cowboys reportedly trade for Panthers wide receiver Jonathan Mingo
Trade! The #Cowboys are acquiring WR Jonathan Mingo and a 2025 seventh-round pick from the #Panthers for a 2025 fourth-round pick, per sources. pic.twitter.com/TQhbRzfTA8
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 5, 2024
The Cowboys liked Mingo a lot leading up to the 2023 draft. The No. 39 overall pick that year, Mingo hasn't come close to living up to his second-round billing.
In 24 career games, he's caught 55 passes for 539 yards. He has yet to catch a touchdown and doesn't have a game with more than 70 receiving yards. It stands to reason he wasn't a good fit in Carolina, but those numbers are disappointing no matter how you slice them. He may have more raw talent than most of Dallas' depth receivers, but is he any better than Jalen Tolbert?
While the Cowboys have two years of control on Mingo and he'll cost less than $4 million before his rookie dela expires, a fourth-round pick feels extremely rich.
After all, the Panthers just traded Diontae Johnson - who is actually good - and a sixth-round pick to the Ravens for a fifth-round pick. Granted, Johnson costs more and will hit free agency in March, but he has 421 catches and over 4,700 receiving yards in his career.
The Titans received a 2025 fifth-round pick from the Cheifs for DeAndre Hopkins. That can become a fourt-rounder - the same price Dallas paid for Mingo - if Kansas City reaches the Super Bowl and Hopkins plays 60% of the snaps the rest of the season.
Go ahead and add this to the mountain of evidence that proves the Joneses do not have a pulse on the wide receiver market.
It screams of a panic move that may ultimately compromise their ability to add a valuable asset in the 2025 draft.
What a disaster.