FRISCO, Texas — Most of the time, discussion around the trade deadline is about the players who could be dealt to the Dallas Cowboys.
Let’s take a different look at the possibilities as Nov. 4 approaches: Who could be traded away?
This is not advocating for a trade, but rather raising the question of which players the Cowboys could move on from, as they look at the makeup of their roster beyond 2025.
Trevon Diggs, CB
Diggs has not made much of an impact since signing his extension in 2023. He tore his left ACL that year and missed 15 games. He missed six games last season and needed a chondral-tissue graft in January. He saw a $500,000 reduction in his base salary because he opted to skip the Cowboys’ offseason program. He missed last week’s game because of a concussion suffered after an accident at his house, and he was placed on injured reserve Saturday, meaning he will miss at least the next four games.
At his best, Diggs was a quarterback-baiting interception machine, a Pro Bowler. But it has been some time since he has been that guy. But he was not asked to play to his strength (man coverage) enough early this season, as the Cowboys played zone coverage 82% of the time over the first six games.
He is scheduled to make $14.5 million in 2026. If the team cuts him without a post-June 1 designation next year, it would save $12.5 million against the cap.
The question becomes what could the Cowboys get for him in a trade? Maybe a better question is this: If the Cowboys are going to move on from him after this season for salary cap purposes, why not take a Day 3 pick back in return if they can get it? If he is cut, then the Cowboys would get no compensation in return.
Jalen Tolbert, WR
He is in the final year of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
Ryan Flournoy has come on at receiver to the point where he could take the No. 3 or 4 role that Tolbert currently holds.
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Last season, Tolbert led the Cowboys in touchdown catches (seven) but his opportunities have diminished greatly behind receivers CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, tight end Jake Ferguson and running back Javonte Williams.
But the Cowboys would need to be careful about making such a move because an injury to Lamb or Pickens would leave them very vulnerable if they moved on from Tolbert.
Would a receiver-needy team take a half-season look at Tolbert, a third-round selection, for a fifth-, sixth- or seventh-round pick?
Sam Williams, DE
The Cowboys considered signing Williams to an extension during training camp, but he wanted to see how this season turns out. Like Tolbert, he is entering the final year of his contract. The Cowboys have second-round edge rushers from the past two years, Marshawn Kneeland and Donovan Ezeiruaku, who are signed through 2027 and ’28, respectively.
Williams has one sack and has been credited with 15 tackles, 17 pressures and 1 tackle for loss. Like Tolbert, if he is not in the Cowboys’ plans beyond 2025, perhaps it makes sense to look at what they could get, although it is possible they could recoup a compensatory pick for him in 2027.
Mazi Smith, DT
The first-round pick is on a fully guaranteed contract and signed through 2026. He has been credited with three tackles, and in the four games he has played, he has seen anywhere from 15 to 21 snaps.
A change of scenery might do everyone some good if there’s a team that believes Smith can find the form he had at Michigan.
Paying homage
As Dak Prescott walked down the hall to the Cowboys’ locker room prior to last week’s 44-22 win over the Commanders, he pointed back toward Ferguson.
The tight end was sporting a Prescott jersey from Haughton High School (Louisiana), complete with the No. 6.
“It was just perfect timing that I pulled up behind him [in the parking lot],” Ferguson said.
Dak Prescott arrives and so does Jake Ferguson, wearing a Prescott throwback to Haughton (La.) High School. pic.twitter.com/RbtI4OHBoA
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) October 19, 2025
When asked how he procured the jersey, Ferguson said, “I’ve got my sources.”
And even though he caught two touchdown passes against Washington, it was not worn to butter up the quarterback.
“It was more of like showing respect to him and what he does and how he carries himself and the love I have for him and who he is as a man,” Ferguson said. “Yeah, it was just a little throwback love is what that was.”
When will Lamb and Pickens get their Haughton jerseys?
“We might just show up next game in all Haughton uniforms,” Ferguson joked.
By the numbers
7 — The Cowboys have lost seven straight games to the Denver Broncos, their longest current losing streak versus an opponent. A loss Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS) would match the longest losing streak to a team in franchise history. The Eagles beat the Cowboys eight consecutive times from 1987 to 1991.
7 — At running back, Williams’ seven touchdowns are tied with running back Herschel Walker and receiver Bob Hayes for the most by a non-QB Cowboy in a player’s first seven games in Dallas.
16 — The Cowboys have the longest active quarter scoring streak in the NFL at 16, which dates back to the second quarter of their Week 4 tie against the Green Bay Packers.
50 — Ferguson is the only tight end in NFL history with at least 50 receptions and six receiving touchdowns in the first seven games of a season.
