Cowboys' Jerry Jones Gives Cryptic Answer on Which NFL Player He'd Add to Roster

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has some ideas about what he wants to do leading up to the trade deadline, but he's not willing to spoil exactly what they are.

Speaking to The Athletic's Dianna Russini at the NFL fall meetings this week, Jones gave a very cryptic answer when asked if he could add one player to the Cowboys roster right now.

"I would say, without incriminating any area of it," Jones replied, "it would be a defensive player. But not a pass rusher."

Jones can't name a specific player because that would violate NFL rules related to tampering. It is notable that he cited a pass-rusher as not being his main priority since it seems like an obvious fit in the aftermath of the Micah Parsons trade.

The Cowboys rank 21st in pass-rush win rate through the first seven weeks of this season, per ESPN.com. They have a top-10 run defense by win rate, though it's hard to square that with the fact they've allowed more than 130 rushing yards in five of seven games.

If you're looking for why that is, linebacker is probably the first place to start. Prior to their Week 7 game against the Washington Commanders, the Cowboys had three players at the positon ranked among the six worst by run stop percentage as tracked by Pro Football Focus.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported on Saturday the Cowboys have put in calls to "most" teams around the league looking for help in the front seven, including the linebacker.

There aren't a lot of great options available at the position, but they can find help if they want to. Logan Wilson, who requested a trade from the Cincinnati Bengals this week, is still an effective player even if he's not a three-down linebacker anymore.

We may not have to wait long to find out what Jones' deadline plans are. The NFL trade deadline is rapidly approaching on Nov. 4. The Cowboys (3-3-1) are currently one game back in the loss column of a group of seven teams in the NFC that have two losses entering Week 8.