Once again the Dallas Cowboys stole the headlines. More often than not trade deadline day in the NFL is about as eventful as the world staring championships, but this year Cowboys owner Jerry Jones looked on it as a final opportunity. Fearing for his team's Super Bowl prospects after two defeats in three games, Jones gave up his team's first, third and sixth round picks in next year's draft to acquire wide receiver Roy Williams and a seventh-round pick from the Detroit Lions on Wednesday.
At a glance it looks like a lot to pay for a receiver who has gained over 1,000 yards only once in four seasons, and who has hauled in an underwhelming 17 catches for 232 yards and one touchdown so far in five games this year. The consensus among team owners, together in Florida this week for the annual league owners' meetings, was that Jones had overpaid. Most Dallas commentators agreed. Some openly wondered if he had only made the move to distract attention from the league's decision to indefinitely suspend cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones.
Certainly there is risk associated with handing over two such high picks (the swapping of sixth and seventh picks is unlikely to make a huge difference, especially given that the Lions will likely be picking early and the Cowboys late in each round). Cowboys fans will recall the trade Jones made ahead of the 2000 season for Joey Galloway, when he gave up two first-round picks only to see the receiver tear his ACL during his first game and miss the rest of the season.
And yet this may be a better deal than many have given Jones credit for. Williams is a tall, powerful receiver who is fast enough to stretch the field on deep routes. He went to the Pro Bowl in 2007 and would have broken 1,000 yards receiving again last season were it not for injury forcing him to miss four games. He is also only 26, and in the long run should become Terrell Owens' successor.
Better yet, Williams truly wants to be there. "I am more happy than when I got my first bike," he reflected after the deal was completed, and his delight stemmed from more than just leaving a team that had won 21 games and lost 48 since he arrived. Williams was a childhood Cowboys fan, one who grew up in Texas playing at Permian High (of Friday Night Lights fame) and then the University of Texas.
Concern lingers over how Owens will react to sharing the limelight with a man who is expected to eventually oust him as the Cowboys' No1 receiver, but for now he is making all the right noises, insisting he has only ever cared about winning. Besides, T.O. has hardly been setting the world alight of late, and if nothing else Williams' presence will ensure he faces less of the double-coverage he has complained about in recent weeks. Whether or not it will help him get over his less-discussed struggles in dealing with simple press coverage from lone cornerbacks this season remains to be seen.
Besides, there are greater problems for this Cowboys team right now. As well as Pacman – who is reportedly planning to attend an 'alcohol treatment facility' – the Cowboys will be without running back Felix Jones for at least another two weeks as he struggles with a hamstring injury, and punter Mat McBriar for the rest of the season after he fractured his foot when his punt was blocked in overtime against the Arizona Cardinals.
And then there's Tony Romo. Team doctors said the Cowboys quarterback would miss three to four weeks after breaking the little finger on his throwing hand against the Cardinals, but after calling – and you'll like this – Brett Favre for advice, Romo now wants to play this weekend against the Rams. To do so would be beyond foolish. Back-up Brad Johnson is more than capable of leading the Cowboys past a Rams team who, despite last week's upset of the Washington Redskins, just aren't very good. Doctors have warned that Romo could aggravate the injury by playing, and frankly he might be more of a liability than an asset if his grip on the ball has been weakened. Bear in mind this is a man who has fumbled six times already this season.
"Being fairly familiar with the personal bios of Favre, Jones, [head coach] Wade Phillips and [Romo], none are med school graduates," writes Randy Galloway in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Those associated with the team who are certified doctors issued on Monday a shutdown timetable of four weeks on Romo. They didn't do this because they are fans of Brad Johnson. Thanks, Tony, for attempting to be manly. But the immediate answer to Romo's request has to be, 'shut the bleep up and rehab, then we'll re-evaluate next week.'"
Phillips has told the press he won't inform them of his decision on Romo before the game. If his intention is to play mind-games with the 1-4 Rams, then one can only assume paranoia in Dallas is even worse than previously thought.
But the Cowboys weren't the only team trying to make moves on deadline day. The Indianapolis Colts agreed a deal to acquire defensive tackle John McCargo from the Buffalo Bills, only for the move to collapse when he failed a medical. But the greater surprise was the failure of the Kansas City Chiefs to come to terms with any of the teams chasing tight end Tony Gonzalez.
"I'm not the first guy that's felt like he's been wronged around here," said Gonzalez yesterday, making no secret of his anger at Chiefs president Carl Peterson. Gonzalez wanted to be traded to a playoff contender, and believed the Chiefs should have accepted an offer of a third-round pick from the Green Bay Packers. "I'm 32 years old," he continued. "A second-round pick, you're not going to get that."
It appears now that the Packers had included a number of stipulations in their offer that the Chiefs were unhappy with, and it has been reported that they may even have had to return draft picks to Green Bay if Gonzalez didn't meet certain performance-related criteria. Nevertheless, failing to work out a trade serves nobody. Gonzalez, who has now caught for more yards than any other tight end in NFL history, could have helped a playoff team get better. These Chiefs are going to post a losing record with or without him. Looking forward, they could do with all the draft picks they can get.
