Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made good on his boast about his team making a big splash before the NFL trade deadline. Indeed, the NFL world got soaked with news that Jones and company made a power move dealing multiple draft picks to the New York Jets for star defensive lineman Quinnen Williams.

The Cowboys were desperate to address their defensive deficiencies this season. It can be argued that those shortcomings were exacerbated in August when Jones dealt Micah Parsons, his best defender, in a move that felt more personal than business, despite the team owner’s protestations to the contrary.

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So how should Tuesday’s trade be judged for the Cowboys beyond validation of winning the spotlight of the NFL trade deadline frenzy? Here’s how NFL senior reporters, writers and analysts at Yahoo Sports viewed it:

**Why to take a dim view of Cowboys’ deal — and yes, Micah Parsons is part of it **

The reaction from Yahoo Sports’ “Football 301” podcast: A great player is headed to Dallas, but the maneuver is far from transformative, especially in wake of dealing Parsons.

“He’s going to make an impact but they need a lot more,” Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice said. “They need like five starters to get where they actually should be to make a run in the playoffs.”

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In his defense of the Parsons trade, Jones kept pounding the table about a need to improve against the run. The acquisition of Williams addresses that. But it didn’t have to come to this for Jones.

“The defense is not just like, ‘They need that run-stopping defensive tackle,’ which they’ve needed since they [parted with] Johnathan Hankins,” Tice pointed out in his discussion on the podcast with The Athletic’s Robert Mays.

No one should expect an immediate turnaround for the playoffs. The Cowboys fell to 3-5-1 after Monday night’s face-plant against the Arizona Cardinals. They face stiff odds to make the postseason, even as a wild card. It’s why Yahoo Sports senior NFL writer Frank Schwab couldn’t declare Dallas a trade deadline “winner” with their acquisition of Williams after seeing what they did with the picks they acquired in the Parsons trade with Green Bay.

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Schwab frowned on the deal in an episode of Yahoo Sports’ “Inside Coverage” podcast:

“You got two first-round picks for Micah Parsons, which I thought was good. ... Well, you give up the higher first-round pick to the Jets and a second-round pick, which probably [is] going to be in the middle of the round, you’ve kind of just washed that out.

“So you really didn’t gain anything from trading Micah Parsons other than you get a good defensive player. I like Quinnen Williams as a player and the $22 million in cap savings, which is obviously not irrelevant. But I just don’t know, what’s the point? You’re not going anywhere this year. You’re a year down the road with Quinnen Williams next year. Do you think you’re a contender next year because you have Quinnen Williams? You just traded draft capital you got for Micah Parsons.

“I didn’t like this deal.”

Was gaining financial flexibility worth it for Cowboys?

If there’s a short-term win for the Cowboys based on the Williams deal and the lesser publicized swap for linebacker Logan Wilson with Cincinnati, it’s based on Dallas’ newfound financial flexibility. In a rundown of the league’s winners and losers at the trade deadline, Yahoo Sports senior reporter Jori Epstein pointed out the glaring price point difference between Parsons and Williams.

So while Quinnen Williams cost the Cowboys valuable assets, Dallas now reunites a three-time Pro Bowler with his longtime Jets defensive line coach at a $24 million/year salary far below Parsons’ $46.5 million clip.

Yahoo Sports senior NFL reporter Charles Robinson dove deeper into the numbers and wrote:

The spin here is Wilson’s contract. He still has two years and $13.7 million remaining on his deal after this season, but none of that money is guaranteed. If he plays well, Dallas can retain him at those numbers. If he’s mediocre through the remainder of this season, Dallas can move on with zero salary cap pain.

Williams, on the other hand, is the bigger picture player who will have a significant impact up front on the defensive line. He should instantly become the Cowboys’ best defender, and give Dallas a top-end defensive tackle rotation alongside Kenny Clark and Osa Odighizuwa. That’s a trio that can do damage, with Williams having the added ability of rushing the passer from the interior. He also turns 28 in December, which makes him a viable defensive centerpiece through the remainder of a contract that runs through the 2027 season.

His cap outlay in 2026 and 2027 is $47.25 million, which is where the twist comes for Dallas. With Odighizuwa signed through 2028 on a four-year, $80 million deal, trading for Williams now gives Dallas the flexibility of exiting Clark’s contract after this season. That, or pushing him to restructure his deal, which calls for a $21.5 million payout in 2026 and a $20 million outlay in 2027. However, none of Clark’s salaries are guaranteed after this season. If he won’t restructure or Dallas sees it as a wild luxury to have three defensive tackles making more than $20 million per season, the Cowboys can walk away from Clark after 2025. That’s a lot of salary relief to be had between Clark and Wilson starting in 2026 if Dallas wants it.

Indeed, the Cowboys made a splash during the trade deadline. If anything, we’re still talking about them, even if they’re on the outside looking in at the playoffs.