​Jerry Jones could trade Cowboys’ shakier offensive piece to solve the linebacker room. This idea, which originated with The Sporting News, suggests using a potential trade chip to finally address Dallas’s linebacker depth. The Sporting News is listed as a preferred source by clicking here. The topic has kept Jordyn Brooks on the Cowboys’ radar for months, and a move might finally push a deal over the line.
FanSided’s Wynston Wilcox proposed a trade that would send Guyton and a 2027 seventh-round pick to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for Brooks. The logic behind the deal is straightforward: Dallas could move on from an offensive-line vulnerability while upgrading the defense at a crucial position. The strategy hinges on Dallas’s up-front line, which recently ranked 18th, with a sizable portion of that underperformance tied to Guyton. In more than 650 snaps in 2025, Guyton posted a 57.5 overall PFF grade, placing him 71st among 89 qualified tackles. His pass protection metrics were even bleaker, ranking 81st after allowing 31 pressures, two sacks, and six quarterback hits.
Dallas has already prepared for potential changes to the roster. They drafted Penn State’s Drew Shelton in the fourth round as a swing tackle, and veteran Nate Thomas provides 17 games of experience should Guyton be traded. On the other side of the equation, Brooks comes off a strong season. He actually led the entire NFL with 183 tackles last year, adding 3.5 sacks and 20.5 tackles for loss. He’s in the final year of a three-year, $26.25 million contract, and Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan has signaled openness to trading him as Miami looks to get younger.
Wilcox argues that Dallas will take a careful, measured approach before committing to a blockbuster move. He writes, “The Cowboys are going to see what their young players do through the preseason and evaluate if it’s worth turning to more stability. Once they’re hovering around a playoff spot, they’ll make a desperate move—and that feels like this.” There is a clear case for why this trade might make sense for Dallas. The defense slipped last year, allowing a league-worst 30.1 points per game. Pairing Brooks with DeMarvion Overshown could stabilize the linebacking crew and address some of the depth concerns that plagued the unit.
Nevertheless, parting with Guyton so soon would be a difficult decision, given that he was a first-round pick and represented a long-term investment. If his game tape indicates he cannot handle left tackle consistently, trading him for a premier defender could align with Jerry Jones’s appetite for value, even at the risk of parting with a high draft asset. In Dallas’s framework, upgrading a struggling defense by swapping an uncertain offensive-line piece could be the kind of bold, value-driven move Jones is known to pursue.
As for the broader landscape, Dak Prescott would receive a has-been-to-now-positive update on George Pickens before Cowboys camp, while ESPN’s underwhelming ranking of the Cowboys ahead of the 2026 season remains a talking point for fans and analysts alike. The ongoing legal and financial stories surrounding former Cowboys players add another layer of pressure to the franchise, underscoring the heightened scrutiny that accompanies any potential roster shakeups. In a league where the line between success and mediocrity is razor-thin, Dallas’s reported interest in a Brooks-for-Guyton swap stands out as a strategic bid to balance a fragile offensive line with an upgraded, potentially transformative linebacker corps. The question remains whether Jerry Jones will pull the trigger on a bold move that could alter the trajectory of the Cowboys’ defense and the franchise’s fortunes.