Terry Bradshaw loved what Jerry Jones did when the Dallas Cowboys shockingly traded star edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers back in August. However, Bradshaw didn’t like the Cowboys’ latest big move.
Bradshaw said he wasn’t a fan of the Cowboys’ trade for New York Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline due to the draft capital given up and where Dallas sits in the standings.
“I would not have done that,” Bradshaw said on “FOX NFL Sunday.” “They’re not going to win the Super Bowl. I know they’ve got those draft choices. I would’ve saved the No. 1. I wouldn’t have given it up. I know they’ve got pass rushing now. I would not have done that.”
The Cowboys gave up two draft picks (2026 second-round pick, 2027 first-round pick) along with defensive tackle Mazi Smith for Williams. The first-round selection will be whichever pick is higher between the Cowboys or Packers’ picks in the 2027 draft.
Dallas still has three first-round picks over the next two years. But when Dallas made the decision to trade Parsons in August, Bradshaw thought the Cowboys were in a similar spot as they were in when they made the Herschel Walker trade in 1989.
“Jerry Jones had to answer to no one to make this trade,” Bradshaw said in September. “This wasn’t the Jimmy Johnson trade when Jimmy traded Herschel Walker for six players and they unloaded six players to get six draft picks. This will be the same thing. So, good move Jerry Jones.”
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While Bradshaw believes the Cowboys’ trade was ill-advised, what’s undeniable is that Williams should help that defense. Williams was named an All-Pro in 2022 and has been a Pro Bowler in each of the past three seasons. He’s consistently drawn double teams throughout his career as well, which might be why some of his counting stats might not jump out (32 total tackles, a sack and three forced fumbles this season). He’s also 17th among defensive tackles in pass rush win rate (10%), second in run stop win rate (47%) and 25th in pressures (19) entering Sunday’s games.
That’s a major boost for a Dallas defense that ranks 17th in sacks per game this season (2.2), second-to-last in total defense (397.4 yards allowed per game) and second-to-last in scoring defense (30.8 points allowed per game). But as the Cowboys sit at 3-5-1 in their bye week, they will likely need more than just Williams (and linebacker Logan Wilson, whom they also acquired ahead of the trade deadline) to win a Super Bowl this year.
There is some long-term play with the Williams trade for the Cowboys as he still has a couple of years left on his four-year, $96 million contract. Jay Glazer said the Cowboys had their eye on Williams for quite some time.
“The Cowboys, all the way back in the summer, were trying to get Quinnen Williams,” Glazer said. “They wanted to offer up Micah Parsons to the Jets in a trade for Quinnen and a draft pick. Jets didn’t want to do it then. But as the trade deadline started coming about, the Cowboys knew, ‘I think we can get him.’
“Whatever it took, they wanted to get him. They were over the moon to get Quinnen Williams.”
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