Dallas Cowboys Holding on to Running Backs

In the 2016 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys picked running back Ezekiel Elliott at No. 4 overall. And according to Cowboys Executive Vice President Stephen Jones, they’ve been fielding calls about trading for their veteran running backs but are not interested at this point.

Jones told the Star-Telegram,“We got calls during the draft asking to trade for a couple of our running backs, and we just don’t have that interest.” 

Darren McFadden and Aldred Morris are the two Jones says teams called asking about trading for. McFadden is coming off a 1,089-yard season, is heading into the final year of his contract with a $2.15 million cap hit. The Cowboys just signed Morris to a 2-year, $3.5 million contract in March.

Neither of those cap hits are huge and both of these players have done their damage in the NFL at times. So some may wonder why they don’t go ahead and make a trade with Elliott there. But the Cowboys have no reason to hurry as it can pay off to wait at least until training camp ends.

The Cowboys must first make sure they make it out of camp with Elliott and backup running back Lance Dunbar healthy. The Cowboys plan to run the ball a lot in 2016 so at least two healthy guys are a much. Then of course, there will be other teams with injuries at the position in camp.

And that will drive up the value and price for a team to make a trade with the Cowboys for one of their backs. It’s also good to make Elliott, coming in with all the hype, compete and earn what he gets. So if everyone stays healthy, there should be some trade action at least by early September.