Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris. Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Three offseason moves the Cowboys must make

By Bruce Ewing | Last updated 5/4/24

The “all-in” Dallas Cowboys haven’t done much this offseason, but they're not all out of options. Here are three things the team should consider if they hope to repeat as NFC East Champions.

Trade for RB Najee Harris

If the team had faith in Rico Dowdle, they never would have signed Ezekiel Elliott. If they had faith in Elliott as a lead back, they would have kept him in 2023.

Najee Harris has been Pittsburgh’s leading rusher for the past three seasons. He joined the Steelers as a first-round pick in 2021, but according to reports, the team did not exercise his fifth-year option.

Harris finished 2023 as the NFL’s seventh-leading rusher with his third-straight 1,000-yard season. He’s been something of a workhorse with the second-, fifth-, and sixth-most carries over the past three seasons.

The comprehensive list of NFL players with 1,000 rush yards in each of the last 3 seasons

- Najee Harris pic.twitter.com/dlI7F4oGCT
— NFL on CBS (@NFLonCBS) May 2, 2024

The Cowboys have just $4M in cap space for 2024 but are scheduled to have $83M in 2025. If the team can make a deal with Pittsburgh, that’s more than enough to accommodate Harris, who would have made $6.7M next season.

Sign DT Calais Campbell

Even at 37, Campbell had 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks with the Falcons last year. He’s no longer the player who won six Pro Bowls with Arizona, Jacksonville and Baltimore, but neither are Chauncey Golston, Osa Odighizuwa and Mazi Smith, the team’s first-round pick in 2023.

Smith struggled to start three games last season while Dallas struggled to stop the run. He played four snaps in the team’s 48-32 playoff loss to Green Bay. After 16 years in the NFL, Campbell could be the veteran presence Smith and the Cowboys need in 2024.

Sign WR Zay Jones

Jones grew up in Austin, Texas, and his father Robert won three Super Bowls as a linebacker with the team in the 1990s. Could that give Dallas a leg up in free agency?

Jones had 3,208 yards and 18 touchdowns in eight NFL seasons and was unexpectedly released by the Jaguars this week. In Dallas, he’d replace Michael Gallup who had 3,744 yards and 21 scores in six years with the Cowboys but signed with the Raiders this offseason.

After playing behind Jacksonville’s Christian Kirk and Calvin Ridley, Jones should have no problem playing behind Brandin Cooks and CeeDee Lamb and would be a substantial upgrade to Jaylen Tolbert as the team’s No. 3 receiver.

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