Jerry Jones is willing to make a move to improve the Dallas Cowboys before the trade deadline, but he doesn’t plan to initiate talks with other teams, he said Tuesday.
“It will have to come our way. I don’t want to preclude it in any way, but it always does. … The initiation of an opportunity to make a trade that would help us principally has to start over on the other end. That’s not showing a lack of aggressiveness, it’s just how it starts,” the Cowboys’ owner and general manager said during his weekly interview with “Shan & RJ” on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas.
The trade deadline is Oct. 31 at 4 p.m. ET. Jones’ Cowboys return from their bye at 4-2 and in second place behind the Philadelphia Eagles (6-1), who made an impact trade Monday, acquiring safety Kevin Byard from the Tennessee Titans.
Jones said of his team, “I like where we are with our personnel today. I’m not thinking in any way that we need to upgrade our roster.” That being said, Jones added that, “I would really extend to improve our team right now. … Because I think we have a team that is a contender. So, I would do it right now.”
He explained his approach to trade talks as “laying in wait.”
“I have areas of the team that we could, if certain circumstances happen, that you might improve. Your best chance to get it done is when it comes by you and you grab it,” he said.
Jones said he will take the Cowboys’ 4-2 record, although his team’s 42-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5 still sticks with him. He said that his team needs to improve on offense in red zone situations and on defense in eliminating big plays but that “we’re going to get better.”
Despite the loss to the 49ers, Jones still views his team as being among the NFL’s best.
“Well, we belong in the upper echelon. I’m not going to say that we belong on the field with San Fran, and we haven’t played Philly, but I’m anticipating Philadelphia being what they look like. So, I don’t want to go that far, but we’re in the upper echelon.”
