Throughout this NFL offseason, Jerry Jones has made it clear that the Dallas Cowboys front office didn’t plan to be overly aggresive. Instead, they would take a “selective” approach to free agency. That’s what they’ve done so far, opting to quickly re-sign Osa Odighizuwa and restructure the contracts of CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott. They then made some minor signings, while also letting key players at important positions leave for other teams.
Jourdan Lewis and DeMarcus Lawrence won’t be returning, which could lead to some defensive regression for a unit that wasn’t great to begin with. A more curious move was what they did at running back. The team signed Javonte Williams, who has struggled mightily since his major knee injury, while letting Rico Dowdle walk right after he surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the team in 2024.
For some, those moves at running back weren’t shocking, for one main reason: the Cowboys have been linked to Ashton Jeanty in the 2025 NFL Draft since the start of the year. Almost everyone expected the Cowboys to select Jeanty in April, but will he even be available? If recent reports are to be believed, he may be long gone before Dallas picks.
Ashton Jeanty seems unlikely to be available for Cowboys as Raiders may take him
According to Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz, some front office executives for the Las Vegas Raiders have Jeanty very high on their board.
The Raiders, meanwhile, are certainly not done adding offensive weaponry to build around all-world rookie tight end Brock Bowers, and with the No. 6 pick in the draft, there is a contingent of Ashton Jeanty supporters within the organization. In Marshawn Lynch, Carroll has already had tremendous success with a dominant, physically imposing running back. Perhaps Jeanty will be next.
It sounds like the Raiders are all-in on Geno Smith as their short- and long-term quarterback solution. Drafting Jeanty sixth overall seems lofty, but Pete Carroll does love running the football.
Dallas would be completely out of luck if that’s the case, as the Cowboys don’t draft until 12th overall. Dallas can still attack the position later in the draft. Going into the season with Williams as the starter and Deuce Vaughn as the backup would be suboptimal, to say the least.
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