The Cowboys will acquire Broderick Jones from the Steelers in a multi-pick trade reported Friday at 4:56 pm ET, sending the 25-year-old tackle to Dallas ahead of his contract year. Dallas gets Jones and a fourth-round pick, while Pittsburgh receives third-round and sixth-round picks.
The move gives the Cowboys another option up front after they had been looking for help at swing tackle, and it adds a player who could compete with Terence Steele. Jones, the No. 14 overall pick in 2023, is being moved after three seasons in Pittsburgh, a span that ended with injury and uneven play at both left tackle and right tackle.
That return is notable because Jones was once one of Pittsburgh's biggest offensive line bets. He was drafted in the first round in 2023, but his career there never settled into the kind of steady rise teams expect from a top pick. He struggled at both tackle spots, then went down after a November 2025 shutdown that led to spinal fusion surgery. He avoided the active/PUP list during training camp, but a recent report said he was still not all the way back in strength or technique.
That helps explain why the trade looks less like a clean reset than a hard calculation on both sides. Pittsburgh already used first-round picks on tackles in 2023, 2024 and 2026, and Jones was unlikely to have his fifth-year option exercised. Dallas, meanwhile, gets a young tackle with pedigree and a chance to sort out the role later, which is why one assessment of the deal called it a solid flier for a team with a strong offensive line coach and no need for him to be perfect right away.
Sam Robinson framed the price as surprising, saying he was shocked Pittsburgh could get that much for Jones and that it was not a bad return for a player the Steelers were so clearly done with. For Dallas, the next step is simple enough: make the trade official, then decide whether Jones pushes Steele, settles into depth, or forces a wider reshuffle on an offensive line that was already searching for answers.
