After winning their first two games of the season, the Dallas Cowboys have lost some serious steam. They saw star cornerback Trevon Diggs tear his ACL, which will cost him the rest of the season, and they then lost to the Arizona Cardinals, a team with arguably the worst roster in the NFL, by 12 points in Week 3.
The Cowboys did rebound to rout the New England Patriots 38-3 on Sunday, but no one is arguing that they may be the best team in the NFL anymore or that they have the league’s best defense, two arguments that were being made prior to Week 3.
With Diggs out for the year, they need some help in the secondary, and a former NFL executive said the following to NFL Analysis Network while making a specific suggestion about who the team should pursue.
“The Cowboys are going to be a serious Super Bowl contender, but right now I don’t think they’re quite there to win it all,” the executive said. “Dallas has to add a cornerback. If I’m the Cowboys, I’m going all-out for Patrick Peterson with the [Pittsburgh] Steelers.”
Right now, Pittsburgh is 2-2, but it is a stretch to imagine it making the playoffs. It ranks 30th in total yards given up, and its long-term prospects aren’t looking good two years after legendary quarterback Ben Roethlisberger called it a career.
Peterson is 33 years of age and is the type of veteran who could help put the Cowboys over the top. While he doesn’t have much playoff experience, he can still defend, and he has five passes defended and one interception through four games this season. Last year, he posted 15 passes broken up and five interceptions.
This offseason, the Steelers gave Paterson a two-year, $14 million contract, and when he agreed to the deal, he expected that he would finish his career with them. Therefore, it could be hard to imagine them letting go of him.
It may therefore take some significant draft capital for Dallas to obtain the eight-time Pro Bowler. Would it be worth it for a man who may only have this year and next year left in his career?
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