Back in March, the Dallas Cowboys made another trade with the Green Bay Packers (after the 2025 Micah Parsons blockbuster) to acquire veteran EDGE Rusher Rashan Gary. Of course, you can’t fault them for aiming to improve their defense, but there is some history you can point to that might make you wary of the deal.
Gary, 28, has been incredibly consistent throughout his career, recording five or more sacks in every season since 2020; he had 7.5 last season, matching his total from 2025.
However, the bulk of those came early in the year, and he slowed down tremendously as the season went on. It is for that reason, as well as the fact that Green Bay was set to release him, that people shook their heads at Dallas sending a 2027 4th-round pick away for him.
That compensation is, of course, where the scary history of this trade comes into play. Let’s talk about it.
Before the 2024 campaign kicked off, Dallas decided it would be a good idea to send a 4th-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for quarterback Trey Lance; that draft pick would be used by the Niners in the 2025 Draft on Malik Mustapha, a very promising young safety.
The move to secure their “quarterback of the future” was made after a career year by Dak Prescott in 2023, and was for a former top-three pick who had thrown five touchdowns and three interceptions in two years.
Of course, the trade was an absolute disaster, with Lance failing to win the QB2 job and never recording a touchdown with Dallas.
The #Cowboys have now traded a 4th-round pick for Trey Lance and another 4th-round pick for Jonathan Mingo over the past two years. https://t.co/8Fb2kA1hu5
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 5, 2024
That same year, the Cowboys made an in-season trade with the Carolina Panthers for wide receiver Jonathan Mingo; they sent a 4th for him as well, even though he had zero touchdowns and virtually no production in two and a half years with the Panthers.
Mingo’s tenure with Dallas, which is still ongoing, has included six receptions for 71 yards. That is not a typo: he has caught six passes as a Cowboy in two years after they sent a fourth for him.
After these two experiments gone array, I thought the front office would have learned to keep these valuable draft picks rather than sending them away from players with question marks.
As proven by the Rashan Gary deal, they have not learned that lesson, and we can now only hope he bucks the trend of these recent trades.
