Jerry Jones’ circus of a football team proved once again it has no real direction with a surprise trade Tuesday morning with the NFL trade deadline just hours away.
The Cowboys sent a fourth-round pick for Panthers WR Jonathan Mingo, who has precisely 12 catches for 121 yards this year. He was a second-round selection in 2023 but failed to seriously crack Carolina’s receiver rotation despite the offense’s struggles.
Considering that Amari Cooper and Davante Adams were traded for third-round picks while DeAndre Hopkins was had for a conditional fifth, Jones’ latest gaffe represents his complete inability to judge value.
Jerry Jones Embarrasses Himself With Cowboys Trade for WR Jonathan Mingo
Trade! The #Cowboys are acquiring WR Jonathan Mingo and a 2025 seventh-round pick from the #Panthers for a 2025 fourth-round pick, per sources. pic.twitter.com/TQhbRzfTA8
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 5, 2024
Mingo was a fine player coming out of Mississippi and flashed some in his rookie year, hauling in 43 passes for 418 yards. He’s not a true impact player though, and Dallas misread the trade market in a devastating way.
Even Diontae Johnson was traded for a bag of peanuts, yet Mingo is somehow the player the Cowboys overpaid for? Jones was a huge fan of Mingo’s in college and draft wizard Mel Kiper Jr. thought Dallas would draft him, yet this is the exact kind of move that unintelligent teams make, not competitive ones.
This will shock no one but:
The Dallas Cowboys spent more to acquire Jonathan Mingo than they got in exchange for Amari Cooper.
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) November 5, 2024
When Jones said Tuesday morning that a big move was coming, this can’t be what fans imagined. Mingo has precisely zero catches over the last three games and has seen his snap count diminish despite injuries to Panthers starters.
This is a player who should’ve required a sixth or seventh-round pick to acquire. How did the Cowboys get fleeced this badly?
Jones’ trademark is overplaying his hand. He waited too long to sign extensions for CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott then was forced to pay top dollar. He’s doing the exact same thing with Micah Parsons right now, all the while bemoaning the salary cap for making it hard to improve the roster.
All of Dallas’ poor decisions over the last two decades trace back to one person. Jones hasn’t learned his lesson and based on Tuesday’s trade, he likely never will.
