Cowboys Turn To Well-Traveled Michael Bennett To Tackle Defensive Line Need

The Dallas Cowboys are betting they are smarter than Bill Belichick.

For the second consectutive season, the Cowboys have made a bye week trade. Last year, it was a No. 1 draft choice to the seemingly forever flummoxed Oakland Raiders for wide receiver Amari Cooper. The now 25-year-old Cooper has proven to be pass catching manna from heaven.

This time around it is a seventh-round draft choice that could evolve into a sixth-round pick to the crafty Belichick' New England Patriots for aging defensive lineman Michael Bennett.

Bennett will be joining his fifth NFL team since 2009. If you really are a student of the soon-to-be 34-year-old Bennett's NFL odyssey, you know the Cowboys are his fourth team since the start of the 2017 season.

The stakes obviously have come way down since last year. The Cowboys have moved from the $1,000 blackjack table to a $5 one.

If the Cowboys are wrong and Belichick was right to dump Bennett, who recorded 2 1/2 sacks and five tackles playing a third of the snaps in six games for the Patriots. the gamble is minimal to Dallas.

The Cowboys are hoping Bennett reverts to his 2018 form when he recorded nine sacks and 34 tackles when he played in 16 games for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Belichick, the Patriots coach and defacto general manager who has led the franchise to three of the last six Super Bowl championships and three others this millennium, has made personnel mistake before.

He prematurely traded away wide receiver Deion Branch. Quarterback Jimmy Garappolo was dispatched for a second-round draft pick. Failed quarterback Ryan Mallett was drafted in the third round. He signed receivers Antonio Brown and Josh Gordon. He is not infallible.

Bennett can play defensive end or tackle. He can float like a butterfly along the defensive line. Of course, Bennett also comes equipped with a stinging tongue and what is considered a big mouth in your father's NFL.

"You can't really bite your tongue," Bennett told the Boston media before he was traded this week to Dallas. The Cowboys are willing to bet on Bennett's big mouth in the hopes he also brings big results.

Belichick deemed Bennett wasn't worth keeping around. The coach suspended the player for the Patriots' last game after he had words with defensive line assistant Bret Bielema.

Bennett's availability comes at a time the Cowboys defensive line has been a source of concern. Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, who signed a massive contract in the offseason, has not returned to pre-shoulder surgery form. The tackles have resembled revolving doors.

Defensive tackle Trysten Hill, the Cowboys' second round pick in the 2019 draft, has proven not to be ready

By contrast, defensive end Robert Quinn, whom the Cowboys acquired from the Miami Dolphins in the offseason for a sixth-round pick, has been a revelation. Forced by NFL suspension to miss the first two games of the season, he leads the team with six sacks and has recorded 11 tackles. He also has been credited with seven quarterback hits.

The Cowboys hope Bennett is the second-coming of Quinn. Owner Jerry Jones has a "win now" attitude as he watches the sands drip through the hour glass. General manager Jerry Jones believes he has stocked his locker room with talent. Coach Jason Garrett has no time remaining on his contract after this season.

And so the team has turned its lonely eyes to Bennett. If he proves he still has what it takes on the field to help the Cowboys to the next level that will be great. If he doesn't, they'll send him on his way just as Seattle, Philadelphia and New England have.