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FILE – Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Broderick Jones (77) plays during an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns in Pittsburgh Oct. 12, 2025.<\/p>\n
Gene J. Puskar\/AP<\/p>\n
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said after Friday\u2019s preseason finale that there was a plan for the future of the backup offensive tackle situation.\u00a0It didn\u2019t take long to reveal it<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Cowboys traded a third- and sixth-round pick in the 2027 NFL draft to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a fourth-round pick and offensive tackle Broderick Jones<\/a>, two people familiar with the trade told The Dallas Morning News on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Steelers selected Jones with the 14th overall pick in the 2023 draft. He\u2019s played in 45 games during his three-year career and started in 38. Jones appeared to be on the Steelers’ roster bubble for first-year head coach Mike McCarthy, who previously was the coach of the Cowboys. Instead of waiting to see if the Steelers would place Jones on waivers, the Cowboys jumped ahead and secured more competition for their backup tackle situation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n By the time Friday\u2019s preseason finale<\/a> ended, it was clear the Cowboys could use more backup tackle options. Throughout training camp and the preseason, they primarily worked with two backup tackle options: fourth-round rookie Drew Shelton and former seventh-round pick Nate Thomas, who started the offseason in a competition for the starting left tackle spot with Tyler Guyton. The competition didn\u2019t last long. The Cowboys suspended the competition a week into training camp because they wanted to see more from Thomas before it resumed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead of rejoining the competition with Guyton, Thomas was moved to right tackle after the first preseason game. Shelton, subsequently, moved from right tackle to left tackle with the second team.<\/p>\n Both Thomas and Shelton had their share of struggles during the preseason. Both were called for holding penalties in Friday\u2019s loss to the New Orleans Saints.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said earlier in the week that he wanted to see more growth from the two offensive tackles who were experimenting with playing on the opposite side of where they began this preseason. He said after the game he wanted to see the film before evaluating both.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jerry Jones, however, was quick to insinuate a move could be coming.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen some guys where we might do some shifting around if it called for it,\u201d Jones said Friday when asked about the backup tackle situation. \u201cBut we\u2019ve got a good plan and we\u2019ll see where we go from here. It\u2019s not over yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Adding Broderick Jones appears to be part of that plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jones is coming off a season-ending neck surgery from an injury he sustained in Week 12 of last season. He was cleared to return to practice in July, just eight months after surgery. Jones played at both left tackle and right tackle this preseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n