How the Jonathan Mingo trade could complicate things at running back for the Cowboys

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images

Not having a fourth-round draft pick makes things a little bit difficult for the Cowboys.

The Dallas Cowboys' front office does not demonstrate much creativity in their roster-building process. Most of the heavy lifting is done in the draft, where they find All-Pro players and then re-sign them to long-term deals. They don’t spend much money in free agency, and every once in a while, they orchestrate a trade. That’s the synopsis of the Cowboys' roster-building approach.

While the fanbase is thirsting for them to make moves, a couple of trades in recent years have not panned out as we hoped. In back-to-back years, the Cowboys traded away their fourth-round pick to acquire a player from another team. In 2023, it was for Trey Lance, and last season, it was for Jonathan Mingo. Both Lance and Mingo have played sparingly, and when they did, they didn’t give fans much to be excited about.

Making deals is risky, and while it’s easy to get excited about a new player, things don’t always work out as planned. Even some of the more praised front offices in the league can produce some stinkers.

TEAM	PLAYER	PICK	GAMES	REC	YARDS	TDs	YDs/GM	FUTURE STANDING
Buffalo Bills	Amari Cooper	3rd	8	20	297	2	37.1	Free agent this offseason
Philadelphia Eagles	Jahan Dotson	3rd	17	19	216	0	12.7	One year left on his rookie deal
Dallas Cowboys	Jonathan Mingo	4th	8	5	46	0	5.8	Two years left on his rookie deal

The Bills were applauded for going after Amari Cooper at the trade deadline last year. They gave up a third- and fifth-round pick for him, but his impact was far less than what they hoped for. His per-game averages for catches and yards were the lowest of any year with any of his previous three teams (Raiders, Cowboys, and Browns). Making matters worse is that Cooper is now an unrestricted free agent making him just an eight-game rental for Buffalo.

Things weren’t any better for the Eagles and their dice roll on Jahan Dotson. Similar to Cooper, Dotson’s production was low. His per-game averages were just a third of what he was doing in Washington, despite already putting up unimpressive numbers with the Commanders. Philadelphia made a lot of good moves last year, but the Dotson trade wasn’t one of them. The only saving grace is that they have him under contract for one more season so he still has a chance to do something.

And that is all the Cowboys have with Mingo because his production in Dallas was horrid. The Cowboys still have a chance to save face as Mingo has two more years left on his deal and they gave up a fourth compared to third. That’s something, we suppose.

While we’ll cross our fingers on the Mingo thing, the Cowboys must move forward without a fourth-round pick this year. Again. Normally a pick outside the top 100 players isn’t something to lose too much sleep over, but it’s still draft capital that can be useful. The Cowboys have landed four Pro Bowl players in the fourth round over the last decade, including the highest-paid player in the NFL, Dak Prescott.

What makes losing this year’s fourth-rounder more aggravating is that it’s a pick that falls right in an area of the draft where there is a position group rich with talent and a position the Cowboys need some help - the running back position. The running backs currently on the roster are Deuce Vaughn and Malik Davis. Yikes. This team must take action to strengthen the position this offseason and the draft is the best way to do that.

If you look at the talent distribution layout for the 2025 NFL Draft, the running back group looks like this (draft rankings courtesy of NFL Mock Database):

1st Round - Ashton Jeanty, Boise State
2nd Round - Omarion Hampton, North Carolina
2nd Round - TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State
2nd Round - Kaleb Johnson, Iowa
3rd Round - Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State
3rd Round - Dylan Sampson, Tennesee

That’s six running backs projected to go by the time the Cowboys pick in the third round. The answer could very well lie with one of those players. However, the position gets a jolt of participants if you look at the players projected in the late third/fourth round of the draft.

Because the Cowboys don’t have a fourth-round pick, their third-round pick is their last chance to secure a potential starting running back. This means they might have to bite the bullet and take their best guy left with their third-round pick, or finagle some trade back to acquire some draft capital that puts them into the hot zone of this group of running backs.

Last year, we all expected the Cowboys to come away with a running back by the end of Day 2, especially with the extra third-round pick they acquired when they traded back in the first round, but it didn’t happen. The Cowboys loved Cooper Beebe and Marist Liufau so much (and we don’t blame them) that they were okay with neglecting the running back position, and considering their struggles last season, it certainly was felt. The Cowboys should try to avoid going down that same path again this year, but trading for Mingo could once again make this a challenging exercise.

One thing that is super frustrating about the Jonathan Mingo trade is how they Cowboys will miss out on a good RB stretch in the draft. Eight RBs are projected to go after the Cowboys pick in the 3rd round and at least one will inevitably slide to the 4th round a la Bucky Irving. pic.twitter.com/EjRoNXtGuh

— Dan Rogers (@DannyPhantom24) February 23, 2025