Cowboys made a move, but missed a chance to get a lot better at trading deadline

NFL trading deadline day Tuesday was uneventful, though there were some teams that helped themselves leading up to it – the Rams traded for cornerback Jalen Ramsey, the 49ers for wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, the Cardinals for running back Kenyan Drake.

The Cowboys made a deal last week for defensive end Michael Bennett, but they had a trade in the works on Tuesday as the deadline approached that would have had much more impact on a team that is leading the NFC East by one-half game.

Dallas was one of a few teams that had discussions with the New York Jets about safety Jamal Adams. That’s a trade the Cowboys absolutely had to make.

They’ve been looking for a safety for 10 years, and even if the Jets were asking for more than a first-round draft pick the Cowboys already know that Adams is a very good player. I wouldn’t be afraid of making a Khalil Mack-type deal for him – that was two first-round draft picks, a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick.

Adams can cover tight ends, and there are so many good ones out there now. To have a guy on the defensive side of the ball who can be just as versatile as some of these tight ends have become is invaluable. Look at tight ends like Darren Waller, George Kittle and Travis Kelce – these guys play in the box as in-line blockers in the run game, they run routes from that position and they also can line up outside and play as a wide receiver.

The Jets drafted Adams sixth overall in 2017 – brought him in to stop Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who retired after last season.

Adams is a transcendent defensive player. I don’t know if there’s another guy like him in the league – his value is really high. I would argue that he’s more valuable than Khalil Mack just because of all the things a team can do with Adams.

He’s the quarterback of your defense. He can line everybody up. He’s a proven leader. He did a few NFL Network segments with us at the Super Bowl a couple of years ago and he’s brilliant. He understands offensive football. He really understands defensive football, and he loves it. He wants to talk about it non-stop. Even during commercial breaks he was asking me everything, and I think he was a rookie at the time.

You never know how close they got to a deal, but I would not have hesitated to trade two first-round picks for Adams if I were the Cowboys.

He would have fit perfectly in Dallas.

I can understand a trade with Cincinnati for A.J. Green not happening, or a trade with Washington for Trent Williams not happening, or a trade with the Jets for LeVeon Bell not happening. But Dallas had a chance to get Jamal Adams … I’d be a little frustrated if I were a Cowboys fan.

Rams clearing cap space

The Rams made the only trade on Tuesday, sending cornerback Aqib Talib and a fifth-round draft pick to Miami for a future draft pick.

It was more about freeing cap space to sign three players, their core group of guys. They have Jared Goff and Aaron Donald under contract through 2024 and they’ll have to extend Jalen Ramsey – they gave up two first-round picks and a fourth-rounder to get him from Jacksonville.

The Rams trading Aqib Talib, I feel like they think they’re an NBA team – they’re going to pay three players and fill in everywhere else. Todd Gurley is making some money, as well, but I’m a little concerned about his health just based on how they’ve played him to this point and the number of reps they’ve given him.

The Rams had to let Ndamukong Suh go. They had to let Marcus Peters go. Now they had to let Aqib Talib go. They have more cap room now, and still have Dante Fowler, Cooper Kupp, Cory Littleton and a few other guys they could look to lock up long-term.

Defense wins championships, and fantasy leagues

Carr was talked into joining a fantasy football league a few years ago by his brother, Darren. He won it. His strategy: picking a defense off the waiver wire each week that had a chance to score points based on their matchup.

The Bills have a good defense and Washington has proven it doesn’t have much going on right now, no matter who is playing quarterback.

That matchup really favors Buffalo. The only thing Washington has a chance to get working is some kind of run game, but the Bills don’t give up much on the ground and because they run the ball effectively they can shorten games.

Buffalo is not going to score a lot of points, but I think if the Bills get a couple of turnovers from Washington they can get to 30 fantasy points very easily, and they’re probably not a team many people have picked.

David Carr answers your questions

David Carr will answer readers’ questions in his column. Submit your questions by email to sports@fresnobee.com (please put “David Carr” in the subject line)