Cowboys Acquire Steelers Tackle Broderick Jones for Third- and Sixth-Round Picks

The Cowboys made their move ahead of Sunday's NFL roster cutdown deadline, acquiring offensive tackle Broderick Jones from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Dallas sent Pittsburgh a 2027 third-round pick and a 2027 sixth-round pick, and got back Jones along with a 2027 fourth-round pick, according to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer. ESPN's Adam Schefter and Jeremy Fowler and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo all confirmed the trade's structure.

Why Pittsburgh Moved On

Jones was the 14th overall pick in the 2023 draft. Since then he's started 38 of 45 games for the Steelers, but he never settled at one position, bouncing between left and right tackle over three seasons, according to Pro Football Rumors.

He missed the final six games of the 2025 season after a neck injury in a Week 12 loss to the Chicago Bears, and underwent spinal fusion surgery in the offseason, per NFL.com. Pittsburgh declined his fifth-year option, a decision that would have guaranteed him $19.07 million for 2027, Pro Football Rumors reported.

The numbers on tape weren't kind either. Pro Football Focus gave Jones a 57.7 overall grade in 2025, ranking him 70th out of 89 qualified tackles, according to NFL.com. He's allowed 22 sacks since entering the league in 2023, the fourth-most among tackles over that span per PFF, also cited by NFL.com.

Pittsburgh had already signaled where things were headed. The Steelers used first-round picks on tackles in three of the last four drafts: Jones in 2023, Troy Fautanu in 2024, and Max Iheanachor at No. 21 overall in 2026, according to Pro Football Rumors. Jones playing deep into the fourth quarter of all three of Pittsburgh's preseason games this month was another signal, NFL.com reported.

What Dallas Gets

The Cowboys' offensive line entered the preseason with a clear hole: no proven swing tackle behind starters Tyler Guyton at left tackle and Terence Steele at right tackle. ESPN's Todd Archer noted Dallas had been searching for exactly that kind of depth, and that Jones could even compete with Steele for a starting job.

Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer, asked before the trade whether Dallas' swing tackle was already on the roster, hedged. "I think we feel good about our tackle group," he said, according to DallasCowboys.com, adding that backups Nate Thomas and Drew Shelton had been competing for the job. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones said the competition "is not over yet."

Jones, still just 25, brings a level of experience Dallas' other depth options don't have. He played all 603 of his snaps at left tackle last season after splitting time on the right side in prior years, per DallasCowboys.com, and has appeared in 142 snaps across Pittsburgh's three preseason games this month, suggesting he's cleared to play following the neck surgery. Pro Football Rumors reported his strength and technique are not yet fully back to form, though.

The Compensation Fight

The trade drew immediate pushback from some fans and media who saw a third-round pick going out for a player who couldn't hold a starting job in Pittsburgh. A to Z Sports pushed back on that framing directly, running the deal through the Rich Hill trade value chart: giving up a third and a sixth while getting back a fourth nets out to roughly the surplus value of a single fourth-round pick, not a full third-rounder, once Dallas' incoming pick is subtracted.

A to Z Sports also brought in its own Steelers beat reporter, Rob Gregson, who argued Pittsburgh mismanaged Jones as much as he mismanaged himself. "The Steelers failed Broderick Jones as much, if not more than he failed them," Gregson said, pointing to the constant position-switching as a factor that hurt his development well before the neck injury.

The Cowboys also struck a multi-pick deal with Pittsburgh in the 2025 offseason. They sent a third- and fifth-round pick and got back a sixth for receiver George Pickens, a trade Sports Illustrated and Pro Football Rumors both describe as a clear win for Dallas.

What's Left Unresolved

The deal doesn't settle Dallas' tackle picture on its own. Schottenheimer said before the trade he wanted to review film before deciding on the swing-tackle job, and Jerry Jones said the team could still shuffle its line depending on what it sees. The Cowboys' offensive tackle room now includes Jones, Guyton, Steele, Thomas, Shelton and Marcellus Johnson, and Dallas has to trim its 90-man roster to 53 by the league's Sunday, August 30 cutdown deadline at 5 p.m. Central. How many of those six tackles make the initial roster, and whether Jones is even fully recovered enough to compete for a starting job rather than just serve as depth, remains an open question none of the current reporting answers.