Grade the trade: Cowboys finally land Ezekiel Elliott upgrade in new mock deal

It's hard to keep up with Dallas Cowboys' panic sometimes. It seems like just yesterday that the situation around then-unsigned wide receiver CeeDee Lamb was ready to derail their season, and then that sorted itself out.

There's always QB controversy and the relentless rumors that the Raiders are ready to back up the brinks truck for Dak Prescott in March.

What has caused the most vitriol among Cowboys fans, though, is the running back position. The depth chart is not particularly inspiring. And no, signing Dalvin Cook does not make it look any prettier. Quite the opposite, actually. Luckily, these are exactly the conditions our good friends at Bleacher Report need to do their best work.

In their latest roundup of Random Trades That Technically Could Happen At Some Point In Time, B/R named an interesting candidate to join the Cowboys' running back room and save fans from an entire year of two-yard Elliot dives.

Cowboys land Daemon Pierce in Bleacher Report's latest trade proposal

Cowboys Receive: RB Dameon Pierce
Texans Receive: 2025 sixth-round pick

"While there is some hope that Elliott will have a resurgent campaign or Rico Dowdle will step up in his fourth NFL season, the Cowboys could add an insurance policy with upside to their backfield in the form of Dameon Pierce ... At worst, Pierce should provide serviceable depth behind Elliott and Dowdle. At best, he could get his career back on track and emerge as Dallas' starter for the next several years. It's a worthwhile gamble for a Day 3 draft pick and could be a fantastic return on investment."

The Cowboys have a decent amount of draft capital to work with next year – and the potential for multiple compensatory picks in the 5th round – so the idea of giving up one mid-round pick for a starting-caliber back doesn't sound too bad. Anything higher than a fifth is probably a non-starter: the Rams just traded their 24-year old starting middle linebacker for one, so we're getting kinda close to reach territory – especially for a guy that no one's quite sure about.

All that being said, running backs are becoming increasingly difficult to project on a year-to-year basis, and one less mid-round pick for a guy who looked like one of the best young backs in football as recently as 2022 seems like a decent deal.

Pierce had almost 1,000 yards in only 13 games his rookie season and he ranked near the top of the league in yards after contact and missed tackles forced. His production sharply dropped in 2023, which is important to note, but he is a poor fit in new offensive coordinator Bob Slowik's scheme.