The Steelers are done waiting on Broderick Jones. Pittsburgh is sending its 2023 first-round pick to the Cowboys, ending a run that started with a draft-day trade-up and ended with the guy stuck on the outside looking in.
Trade: the Steelers are sending 2023 first-round pick Broderick Jones to the Dallas Cowboys, per source.
The deal came together fast, with Schefter, Rapoport, Pelissero and the rest of the league's insider corps confirming it within a minute of each other. Once Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo had it, the terms followed quickly behind: Dallas sends Pittsburgh third- and sixth-round picks, Pittsburgh sends back a fourth-rounder along with Jones. Albert Breer laid out the full compensation once it settled (2093822438194778586), and Jones still has to clear a physical before it's official.
Jones was Pittsburgh's guy not that long ago — the Steelers traded up to grab him 14th overall in 2023 out of Georgia, and he racked up 38 starts across three seasons. Then last season a Week 11 neck injury against the Bears required spinal fusion surgery, and everything changed. The Steelers declined his fifth-year option this offseason rather than guarantee him $19.1 million for 2027, drafted Max Iheanachor in this year's first round, and slid Troy Fautanu over to left tackle. Jeremy Fowler summed up where that left Jones: odd man out in Pittsburgh, in need of a fresh start (2093820212575351286).
It wasn't just the rookies passing him, either. Bo Brack noted that a 7th-round pick in Jayden Williams and 2025 UDFA Josh Fryar had already jumped Jones on the tackle depth chart (2093820500791423443) — brutal for a former first-rounder who was still rehabbing strength and technique after the layoff.
In Dallas, the fit is a lot less dramatic and a lot more practical. Albert Breer noted Tyler Guyton has had a strong camp at right tackle, so Jones slots in to compete there and give the Cowboys real depth behind both starters rather than a starting job handed to him. Calvin Watkins ran down the crowded tackle room Jones is walking into — Guyton, Drew Shelton, Terence Steele, Marcellus Johnson, Nate Thomas, and now Jones (2093822291331190837).
The recurring word out of Dallas is swing tackle, and that's the honest read on the move: a low-cost, low-risk pickup a day before the roster cutdown, not a reclamation project the Cowboys are staking anything on. Mark Kaboly, who covers the Steelers, pointed out Pittsburgh had actually showcased Jones plenty in preseason — 140 snaps across 3 games — knowing full well he wasn't part of the long-term plan up front (2093832339344298099).
For a fourth-round pick, Dallas gets a former top-15 selection with starting experience and something to prove, health permitting. For Pittsburgh, it's a swap of a player who'd already been passed over twice for future draft capital. Not a blockbuster, but exactly the kind of roster-crunch trade that shows up the night before final cuts.