Heading into their Week 5 matchup on Sunday Night Football with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Dallas Cowboys have the worst running game in the NFL.
And that's not an opinion; that's simply a fact. Through the first four weeks of this 2024 campaign, America's Team has gained just 301 yards on the ground, good (or not so good is more like it) for dead last in the league.
With Tony Pollard taking his talents to the Tennessee Titans, many thought the Cowboys might try to sign Derrick Henry or J.K. Dobbins during the offseason to take over RB1 duties. Instead, however, Jerry Jones opted to bring Ezekiel Elliott back to town on a one-year deal and also re-signed Rico Dowdle.
Jones claims he couldn't afford the former Titan (which is nonsense), and Henry showed Jones what he was missing out on by rushing for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the Cowboys' loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 3. Henry is also the league's leading rusher through four weeks, by the way. But I digress.
Put mildly, Zeke and Dowdle aren't getting the job done. Through Dallas' first four games, the duo has combined for 215 yards on 58 carries (3.7 yards per carry). Sure, they've added another 110 yards as receivers, but it's not as if that's anything to write home about, either.
It's not that the Cowboys aren't putting up points, as they're averaging 24.3 per game, good for a respectable 12th in the league. But that's because Dak Prescott is throwing the ball 37.3 times per game, the second-most in the NFL behind only Geno Smith.
The Dallas running game simply must improve, and there may be a way for the franchise to make that happen if the winless Jacksonville Jaguars make Travis Etienne available, which they just might.
Speaking in their Week 5 column on ESPN+ (subscription required), Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler discussed the possibility of the Jaguars making Etienne and others available if they continue to lose games. Here's what Fowler had to say:
"Another loss or two could leave the 0-4 Jaguars trading away players. This roster is not barren. I could see teams inquiring on rookie-scale talent, such as linebacker Devin Lloyd, safety Andre Cisco, and running back Travis Etienne Jr. I'm not saying Jacksonville wants to move marquee players, but we've seen this script before when a team implodes."
- Jeremy Fowler, ESPN
Fowler makes a strong point here. It's not that Jacksonville would want to move Etienne, whom they drafted 25th overall in 2021. But given that they're not going to make the postseason (only one 0-4 team has ever done so), it's something they might need to consider. And if they do, the Cowboys should pounce.
Is Etienne having a great season? No, he's not. During the Jags' 0-4 start, he's rushed for 214 yards on 47 attempts, giving him a respectable 4.6 yards per carry, good for a tie for 11th among running backs with at least 40 carries on the year. And he's done so behind what's easily one of the worst offensive lines in football.
The Cowboys' O-line certainly isn't as strong as it's been in recent years, but it's still among the 10 best in the league, and Etienne could genuinely thrive with more support than he's had in Jacksonville.
Now, there's obviously the matter of what the Jaguars would want from Dallas in return, but, honestly, one or two mid-to-late round draft picks and a player or two might get the job done. If the Las Vegas Raiders are only asking for a second-rounder for a guy like Davante Adams, one has to assume Jones wouldn't have to part with anything more than a third-rounder and additional compensation.
Then, of course, there's the matter of Etienne's salary. Still playing on his rookie deal, the Clemson alum has a cap hit of just over $4.1 million for the 2024 season. And Dallas obviously wouldn't be on the hook for all of that with a midseason trade. His cap number does jump to $6.143 million in 2025, as the Jags exercised his fifth-year option back on April 27.
But, according to Spotrac, that ranks only 12th among all running backs for the 2025 season, and it's still far less than what Jones would have had to pay Henry. Is Travis Etienne on the same level as Derrick Henry? Of course not. But he's a good running back stuck in a bad situation.
And nobody's saying that the Cowboys have to keep Etienne beyond the '25 campaign, which is when he's set to enter free agency. But getting a year and a half out of him to improve a team whose title window continues to get smaller and smaller might be a solid investment.
As for the Jaguars, they might simply want to get something for a guy who may just choose to walk away after next year anyway. The likelihood of this deal going down probably isn't all that high, but it's certainly something the Cowboys should consider looking into.
