If there is a single flaw in this 2025 Cowboys team–and one of the big challenges as the NFL’s trade deadline nears is that there is not just one single flaw–it’s that the team has struggled to replace the kind of impact defensive player that was lost when Micah Parsons went to Green Bay. That trade might still work out for the Cowboys in the long run, but the franchise is scrambling for a defensive identity in the meantime.
You know the numbers. The Cowboys have yielded 246 points this season, second-worst in the NFL. The team has given up 3,073 yards, also second-worst. Given the fact that the Cowboys have the No. 2 offense in the league, even an average defense would have this team near the top of the conference.
Oddly enough, it’s not the pass rush that has been the big problem–it rates No. 16 on Pro Football Focus’s pass-rush rankings. Coverage has been the glaring hole, where Dallas is No. 32.
Cowboys Need Defensive Help at Trade Deadline
Still, a two-pronged approach at the deadline makes sense. Find some cornerback help, which is usually available for a relatively cheap cost in draft assets, and bolster the mediocre pass-rushers by bringing in a focal point. And one could be very much available as the Miami Dolphins‘ implosion drags on: edge rusher Jaelan Phillips, a former first-round pick who has struggled to stay healthy but has been solid when he is on the field.
Writes Heavy’s Max Dible of a Phillips-to-Cowboys deal:
“Phillips isn’t putting up huge traditional numbers this season after Achilles and ACL injuries in back to back seasons, but his advanced metrics are actually very good. He’s an athletic, 26-year-old edge rusher with first-round pedigree who put up 22 sacks in his first 42 games and can be had for a reasonably draft asset in the third-to-fourth-round range.”
Trade Deadline Not Likely to Bring Big Fish
Phillips is currently graded the No. 16 pass-rushing edge man in the NFL at PFF, with a pass-rush grade of 77.8. That’s just ahead of Broncos star Nik Bonitto and Steelers star TJ Watt. He struggles in run defense–an issue for the Cowboys–but he can disrupt opposing passers.
Dible notes: “The Cowboys’ defense is in a bad way, which Jerry Jones has acknowledged by reaching out to Raiders on Crosby and Bengals on Hendrickson. He may not be able to land those big fish, but Phillips would be a nice (and helpful) consolation prize.”
GettyDallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, watching on during the loss to the Denver Broncos on October 16, 2025.
Cowboys Looking for Love
The Cowboys need help all over the defense–secondary, linebacker–and owner Jerry Jones said this week that all he really wants, in the end, is to bring in players who love football. Whether Phillips, or anyone on that Dolphins roster at the moment, counts is up for debate.
“One that loves football. Loves football. That seems trite. Why wouldn’t they be out there playing? Some do more than others,” Jones said.
“And so you’re looking for guys that just are from within, self-motivators, miserable when they don’t play well and they exude that around their teammates. That’s just a little thing called makeup right there. Now obviously you want to get a player that is in the top percentile of the kind of players that you’d like to go forward with. That has a price tag.”
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