Steelers send 2023 first-round pick Broderick Jones to Cowboys in pre-roster-deadline trade

The Pittsburgh Steelers traded offensive tackle Broderick Jones to the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night, dealing a player who was selected in the Steelers’ 2023 first-round class as part of a broader draft-pick swap that lands near the NFL’s roster deadline. The move came “the evening before final 53-man rosters are due around the league,” according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, underscoring how quickly the market can shift once teams finalize their offseason plans.

Per the report, the Steelers sent their 2023 first-round pick to Dallas, and in return the Cowboys sent Pittsburgh a third- and sixth-round pick. Dallas also delivered Jones to Pittsburgh’s roster rivals, while Pittsburgh received a fourth-round selection as part of the compensation structure Fowler described. The combination effectively converts a first-round asset into a package of picks plus the player transaction.

For the Steelers, the decision reflects how roster construction at the most demanding positions, especially along the offensive line, can be revisited before rosters become locked for the regular season. Trading a first-round choice that started as a high-investment swing indicates that Pittsburgh’s internal projection for its offensive front, and perhaps its depth chart preferences, did not align with the path it expected when it drafted Jones.

For the Cowboys, acquiring Jones provides another option up front as they head into the final roster stage. Dallas’s willingness to trade down in the draft and take on a player acquisition as the deadline approaches suggests a specific priority: adding (or upgrading) offensive-line options while balancing value across multiple seasons of draft control.

The timing also matters in practical terms. With final 53-man rosters due shortly after the league’s late-afternoon and evening transaction window, teams often use trades to avoid being boxed in by depth chart outcomes, practice-squad evaluations, and positional flexibility. A deal this close to the deadline can also be a statement about what a team believes it can do once the evaluation period ends and game-week rosters take shape.

What to watch next is how each team uses the newly acquired draft capital and the player trade result. For Pittsburgh, the priority will be integrating the value it gained from the pick exchange and rebalancing its offensive line depth without Jones. For Dallas, the focus will be on how Jones fits into its planned lineup and whether the Cowboys’ coaching staff views him as a near-term solution or a strategic addition meant to extend roster versatility.

Because this item is based on a report rather than an official league release in the information available here, readers should treat the compensation and player-inclusion details as accurate to the reporting described, but confirm specifics through official team or league transaction logs for full certainty before drawing broader conclusions about every mechanism of the trade.