After the Week 9 heartbreak in Philadelphia, the Dallas Cowboys clearly felt the need to change something -- at least something that's in their control and not in stripes placating to the Eagles fans loudly cheering or booing at Lincoln Financial Field.
The most logical options would be to possibly switch up the current offensive approach from head coach Mike McCarthy and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. Though impossible now, another course of action would've been to use the trade deadline to address holes created by injuries at cornerback or linebacker. Or the Cowboys could've even looked to fortify the offensive line at any point.
So, naturally, Jerry Jones is signing a 31-year-old wide receiver who hasn't played in the NFL since the 2018 season.
Yeah, that'll fix it.
Cowboys sign Martavis Bryant to address non-existent WR problem
On Tuesday after reports of a workout, the Cowboys agreed to a deal with former Steelers and Raiders wide receiver Martavis Bryant, as reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic. Bryant was just recently reinstated by Roger Goodell and the NFL after being suspended indefinitely in December 2018 for a violation of his conditional reinstatement from a previous suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy.
Bryant started out his NFL career being quite productive for the Steelers, catching 126 passes for 1,917 yards and 17 touchdowns across 36 games and three seasons. He tailed off in Oakland with the Raiders prior to his longstanding suspension, but was primarily a big-play threat.
Could the Cowboys possibly use a downfield playmaker? Sure. Michael Gallup has been a shell of the player he once was since his 2021 ACL injury and that situation hasn't improved.
At the same time, though, wide receiver was a distant thought in terms of the biggest current problems for the Cowboys. Not only is CeeDee Lamb a bonafide WR1 but the combination of Brandin Cooks, Jalen Tolbert and tight end Jake Ferguson has comprised a solid group of pass-catchers. That's not the thing that's been holding this team back in any capacity.
More importantly, it's a gamble on Bryant in the first place. Again, this is a player who is now on the wrong side of 30 and hasn't played in five seasons. How can anyone rightly expect him to touch the grass on an NFL field and be the same player he was? That's ludicrous process, particularly when he's an addition that doesn't address a pressing need in Dallas.
Maybe it'll work out. That's not out of the question. And maybe he helps the Cowboys. However, building an NFL roster, a winning one in particular, is a process-over-results business in the long-term. And there's no way to look at this move as anything other than bad process from the Jones family.
