Cowboys' Schottenheimer Trade-Deadline Announcement Gets It All Wrong

The Dallas Cowboys didn't make a trade at this week's NFL deadline day, and in fact, we're told there was barely a "serious'' phone call coming into or going out of The Star.

What that means is up to your interpretation - and up to the Cowboys' spin.

And we say that coach Brian Schottenheimer's attempt at explaining the inactivity is nothing more than that.

Spin.

Send away George Pickens? That was never a real consideration, and we break down the details in our trade-deadline exclusive below.

Bring in Arizona's Josh Sweat or Miami's Jordyn Brooks? Those concepts have been discussed inside the building over the last few months, but this week, never materialized.

And why not? How does Schottenheimer explain the 4-5 Cowboys not being active as "buyers'' on the final day of the trade window?

“I think at the end of the day, it shows you that we're confident in our roster and the fact that our best football is still ahead," Schottenheimer said.

Well, maybe.

But there's a harsher truth that lingers here.

While the Cowboys haven't shown that they are bad enough to warrant a fire sale ... they also haven't demonstrated that this roster is good enough to merit spending future capital on, that this roster isn't one defensive player away from instantly lifting them into true contention.

So, they kept their powder dry.

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There is something to be said for positivity, and in that regard, Schottenheimer is doing his best in an attempt to hold this thing together.

But it really possible and wise to be confident in a roster that has stumbled and bumbled along all year, with a ledger that includes losses to Tampa Bay with a rookie quarterback and the lowly Arizona Cardinals, and with a most recent win over the JV Colts that was almost as embarrassing as those aforementioned losses?

We sense that "Schotty'' is whistling past the graveyard here.

There is, to be sure, a chance for that confidence - whether it be sincere or not - to grow. That will be put onto the NFL stage in the weeks to come, starting Sunday when the powerful 7-1 San Francisco 49ers come to AT&T Stadium.

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In the seemingly unlikely event that the five-point underdog Cowboys pull off an upset here against a Niners team that has won four straight over Dallas in the last four years ...

Schotty will do his (cringy?) locker-room celebration, will (justifiably?) puff out his chest in his postgame press conference, and yes ... will have a victory that Dallas can in theory build on.

A "statement'' win, so to speak.

But unless and until that scenario unfolds?

Schottenheimer is surely only pretending to be unaware of a possibly real reason for owner Jerry Jones and his front office to pass on pulling the trigger on a roster-helping trade.

It's not because the Cowboys roster is good.

It's because there is a suspicion that the Cowboys roster is beyond help.