Breaking News: Bills cut ties with $15 million 2-time 1,000-yard rusher in blockbuster trade with Cowboys

There’s no secret about the fact that the Dallas Cowboys need a new running back.

After nearly a decade of relying on Ezekiel Elliott to shoulder the load in the backfield, the Cowboys have faltered over the past few seasons. In 2024, the ground game started exceptionally slow, and picked up at the end only when Rico Dowdle found his groove.

Unfortunately, Dowdle plays for the Carolina Panthers now. The Cowboys are heading into the NFL Draft with Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders, two players whose teams had no interest in re-signing them at the end of the year, as their main starting candidates.

If the Cowboys don’t want to use their first-round pick on a running back, perhaps they could instead trade for a two-time Pro Bowler.

In a recent article, Pro Football Network named Buffalo Bills running back James Cook as a potential preseason trade candidate, while listing the Cowboys among Cook’s top hypothetical fits.

“Brandon Beane has traditionally leaned on the draft to restock at running back. Beane drafted Devin Singletary to replace LeSean McCoy, and then drafted James Cook to replace Singletary,” the site wrote. Now, with Cook entering the last year of his rookie contract, the Bills could be poised to repeat that cycle again.

“The Cowboys… could use an upgrade at RB1 as well. Dallas has a connection to Cook with Ken Dorsey, a Cowboys assistant who was Cook’s offensive coordinator in Buffalo from 2022 until he was fired after Week 10 of the 2023 season.”

Cook, 25, made the Pro Bowl in each of the past two seasons and had his most dominant year yet in 2024. He racked up 16 rushing touchdowns, compared to only two the season before, while running for 1,009 yards on 4.9 yards per carry.

The Cowboys would only have Cook under contract for one year, so sending Buffalo an early-round draft pick (even a third) would be a risk. But it’s a risk they might need to take to shore up an iffy ground game.