rr DEFENSIVE SHOCKWAVE: The Path is Cleared for Dallas to Acquire a Franchise-Altering, 3-Time All-Pro Star – This is the Stunning Price Tag!

Dallas, TX – The NFL trade deadline hasn’t even arrived, but the market is already exploding with moves that could reshape the league’s balance of power. On Tuesday, October 7, 2025, the AFC North took center stage as the Cleveland Browns shipped veteran quarterback Joe Flacco to the rival Cincinnati Bengals for a modest swap of late-round picks—a 2026 fifth-rounder in exchange for Flacco and a sixth-round selection. Hours later, the Baltimore Ravens, mired in a 1-4 start, dealt edge rusher Odafe Oweh to the Los Angeles Chargers for safety Alohi Gilman and a 2026 fifth-round pick, freeing up nearly $8 million in cap space while signaling a potential pivot amid mounting injuries.

These aren’t just isolated transactions; they’re shockwaves rippling through the standings. Both the Browns and Ravens sit at one win through five weeks, and with the trade deadline looming on November 4, front offices league-wide are dialing furiously. Contenders are hunting upgrades, and sellers are listening. For the Dallas Cowboys—also nursing a frustrating 1-4 record and desperate for defensive reinforcements—these deals could crack open a golden opportunity: a blockbuster pursuit of Baltimore’s star linebacker, Roquan Smith.

A Desperate Need in Dallas: The Cowboys’ Defensive Black Hole

The Cowboys’ defense is a dumpster fire, plain and simple. They’re dead last in EPA per play, allowing opponents to feast on explosive gains and sustaining drives with impunity. Missed and broken tackles? Third-worst in the NFL, per Sports Info Solutions data. At linebacker, the corps is a patchwork of underperformers: starters like Jack Sanborn and Kenneth Murray have been liabilities in coverage and run support, while rookies Marist Liufau and Shemar James scrap for scraps of playing time without making a dent.

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Dallas has the talent elsewhere—Mickah Parsons prowls the edge like a predator—but without a sideline-to-sideline enforcer anchoring the middle, the unit crumbles. Enter Roquan Smith: the three-time First-Team All-Pro (including last season) who could transform this group overnight. At 28 years old, Smith is the prototype: explosive speed (4.51 40-yard dash), elite tackling (career 89.5 PFF run-defense grade), and a nose for the ball (three interceptions last year alone). Pair him with Parsons, and you’d have a nightmare duo that forces offenses to pick their poison.

Smith wouldn’t just plug holes; he’d elevate Dallas to contender status. Imagine the Cowboys’ secondary—already opportunistic—thriving behind a linebacker who erases check-downs and stuffs the run. In a league where playoff teams boast top-10 defenses, acquiring Smith could be the jolt that catapults Dallas from irrelevance to NFC East threats.

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Baltimore’s Breaking Point: Injuries and Cap Crunch Open the Door

The Ravens’ trade of Oweh isn’t a white flag—yet—but it’s a telltale sign of distress. At 1-4, Baltimore matches the worst start in franchise history since 2015, plagued by injuries across the roster. Their pass rush has mustered just six sacks in five games, the secondary is sieve-like, and the injury bug has bitten hard—including a nagging issue sidelining Smith since late 2024.

Ravens GM Eric DeCosta has a war chest of pending free agents this offseason, and Smith’s $100 million extension (signed in 2023) looms large: $20 million due in both 2026 and 2027. With young linebackers like Trenton Simpson and rookie Teddye Buchanan not exactly setting the world on fire, moving Smith could free up massive cap relief and draft capital to rebuild the defense. As A to Z Sports’ Ravens expert Kyle Crabbs notes, “Injuries can be fickle… you could make an argument that Baltimore should be willing to listen here for the right offer.”

The Oweh deal proves Baltimore isn’t afraid to deal from depth, even if it’s not full seller mode. A few more losses—like the one looming against the Rams in Week 6—could tip the scales. Suddenly, the path to Smith isn’t a fantasy; it’s a calculated risk for a team staring down irrelevance.

The Stunning Price Tag: Echoes of 2022, But With a Dallas Twist

If the Ravens bite, what would it cost Dallas? History provides a blueprint. When Baltimore acquired Smith from the Chicago Bears in 2022, they surrendered a second-round pick and a fifth-rounder—a package that netted them an All-Pro cornerstone for two first-rounders’ worth of value on the cheap. Crabbs believes it’d take something similar now: “A 2nd & 5th round pick combination.”

That’s no small ask for the Cowboys, who just flipped their third-rounder for wideout George Pickens in a win-now gamble. But Dallas holds four first-round picks over the next two drafts, giving them ammo to maneuver without gutting the future. Throw in a player like a mid-tier depth piece (say, a rotational edge or a future seventh), and the deal could close. Salary-wise, Smith’s $16.5 million cap hit this year is digestible for a team with $12 million in space, especially if they extend him long-term at a team-friendly rate.

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The real hurdle? Timing and conviction. Crabbs warns that Dallas needs to string together wins—perhaps a 5-3-1 mark—to justify the splash: “The Cowboys need wins before sacrificing important draft capital.” Right now, with the Eagles and Giants lurking in the NFC East, it’s a high-wire act. But if Mike McCarthy’s squad rattles off a couple of statement victories, Jerry Jones won’t hesitate. He’s built for bold.

League-Wide Ripples: Who Wins, Who Loses in the Sell-Off Frenzy?

This isn’t just a Cowboys story—it’s a seismic shift for the AFC North and beyond. The Bengals, reeling from Joe Burrow’s turf toe (out until December), grab Flacco as a bridge to stabilize a 2-3 squad stacked with weapons like Ja’Marr Chase. Cleveland, meanwhile, clears the deck for rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, betting on youth over a 40-year-old stopgap whose four starts yielded just two touchdowns and six picks.

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For the Ravens, shedding Oweh bolsters the secondary with Gilman, a hard-hitting safety who could pair with Kyle Hamilton to mask pass-rush woes. The Chargers, perennial buyers under Jim Harbaugh, add Oweh’s 10-sack pedigree from 2024 to terrorize quarterbacks alongside Khalil Mack.

And if Smith lands in Dallas? The NFC East tightens like a noose. Philadelphia and Washington would need to counter-shop—perhaps poaching from the Browns’ Devin Bush fire sale—while the Ravens’ potential unload opens doors for other stars like edge rushers or corners. It’s chaos, opportunity, and desperation all rolled into one.

The Verdict: Wishful Thinking or Destiny?

Roquan Smith to Dallas remains speculative—a tantalizing “what if” until the Ravens wave the white flag and the Cowboys prove they’re buyers. But Tuesday’s trades have cleared the runway: sellers are active, cap sheets are flexing, and a franchise-altering talent sits one phone call away. For a Cowboys team staring down another lost season, the stunning price tag of a second- and fifth-rounder isn’t highway robbery—it’s highway to January.

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Jerry Jones loves a spectacle. Will he deliver the shockwave? In a league where the bold thrive, the clock is ticking. Dallas faithful, buckle up—this deadline could redefine everything.