One of the biggest complaints of the Dallas Cowboys’ offseason so far dovetails perfectly with one of the biggest complaints about the team’s offseason last year.

In late February 2019, Randy Gregory, who totaled 6.5 sacks in 2018 and seemed poised for a double-digit sack season in the near future, was suspended indefinitely for violating the league’s archaic substance abuse policy, leaving a massive hole on the Cowboys’ depth chart at right defensive end.

Fans were upset that the Cowboys didn’t make a more concerted effort to sign someone to fill the spot opposite DeMarcus Lawrence, but what they didn’t know was that Dallas had something cooking in the trade market. On March 28, 2019, the Cowboys traded a 2020 sixth-round pick for Robert Quinn, filling the need and quieting the concerns of a vocal segment of the fan base.

Earlier this month, Quinn, who totaled 11.5 sacks in 2019, opted to sign with Chicago Bears in free agency, reopening that hole at right defensive end on the Cowboys’ depth chart. It may feel like deja vu, but the fan base has already started criticizing the front office for not doing more to replace Quinn in free agency, which brings to mind whether the Cowboys could be devising a similar scheme to fill the hole.

With the way the roster is currently constructed, there are a few spots where the Cowboys could create a trade to acquire a particular player to fill a need. Although they re-signed Anthony Brown and added Maurice Canady in free agency, the Cowboys still haven’t found someone who can replace Byron Jones’ contributions on defense. And with Randall Cobb now in Houston, they desperately need to find a slot receiver to be deployed with Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup. The Cowboys seemingly could even trade for a backup offensive tackle to replace Cam Fleming although that’s not nearly as exciting as the other options.

With that in mind, let’s look at a few players the Cowboys should consider trading for before the draft:

William Jackson III, CB, Bengals

Given all the high-priced additions in free agency, the Cincinnati Bengals are the perfect team to try to entice into a trade. The position they have targeted most is cornerback, having signed Mackensie Alexander and Trae Waynes.

According to The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr., William Jackson III may not be with the Bengals much longer because of those additions and the fact he’s entering the final year of his contract.

If that’s the case, the Cowboys would be wise to immediately pick up the phone and gauge Cincinnati’s interest in trading the 27-year-old cornerback.

Jackson, the Bengals’ first-round pick in 2016, has dealt with some injury issues since entering the NFL. He missed his rookie season because of a torn pectoral muscle and a shoulder injury last season sent him to injured reserve in December.

Nevertheless, Jackson is an extremely talented player who makes some absurd plays in coverage. Here’s an example:

On this play, the Bengals are playing a Cover 3 concept against the Buffalo Bills’ play-action pass while Jackson is aligned in off coverage with outside leverage over the X receiver (bottom of the screen). Jackson does an excellent job of passing the receiver off to the deep middle safety before overlapping to defend and break up the pass to the deep post. An excellent example of his ability to properly process stimuli and make the correct decision without hesitation.

Jackson does a lot of his best work in man coverage, where he’s great at reading the receiver’s hip to anticipate and mirror breaks. When he’s on, he’s extremely sticky in man coverage and can go toe-to-toe with some of the best receivers the NFL has to offer.

Unfortunately, Jackson did see a fairly large reduction in his snap-to-snap consistency last year in a disastrous season for the Bengals. His concentration and effort levels seemed to wane throughout, and it’s tough to know just how much of that was because of the losing culture that’s been in place there in Cincinnati -- he’s yet to be a part of a team with a winning record.

A change of scenery would probably be best for the Houston native, and this is where the Cowboys could come in and save the day. The fact that Jackson is coming off a down year and entering the last year of his contract with a $9.5 million cap charge means he could potentially be had for a mid-round pick. Washington traded away Quinton Dunbar -- coming off an outstanding season but, similar to Jackson, entering the last year of his deal at age 27 -- for a fifth-round pick.

Jackson would boost the Cowboys’ overall depth at cornerback while also providing them with a bona fide starter at outside corner.

Dede Westbrook, WR, Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been extremely active on the trade market, departing with Calais Campbell, A.J. Bouye and Nick Foles this offseason. The Jaguars are obviously entering a rebuild and trying to stack draft picks in the process, so the Cowboys should broach the subject of trading for wide receiver Dede Westbrook.

The Cowboys need to find a slot receiver to replace Cobb, and Westbrook is one of the better slot receivers who could be had on the trade market.

Listed at 6 feet, 178 pounds, Westbrook is a thin but speedy slot receiver who’s been stuck in Jacksonville’s middling passing offense. Still, he’s proven to be an effective slot and deep threat since entering the league in 2017, now coming off back-to-back seasons with 650-plus receiving yards.

Westbrook has a natural feel for finding the voids between defenders in zone coverage, displaying an excellent understanding of coverages and their weaknesses.

While he struggles some with physicality -- this is why he’s best in the slot, where he’s typically given free releases off the line of scrimmage -- Westbrook shows an ascending ability to create separation out of his breaks. He uses his eyes to sell lies to defensive backs, like peaking inside before breaking out to make them slightly hesitate. This is all Westbrook needs to create separation.

Westbrook is a noteworthy deep threat who possesses legitimate 4.3 speed and secured 54% of deep passes (20-plus yards) sent his way in 2019, the 14th-best mark in the NFL among receivers with at least seven deep targets, according to Pro Football Focus.

On top of all that, Westbrook is also one of the most effective and elusive receivers after the catch -- nearly half of his receiving yards the last two seasons have come after the catch, according to PFF.

If the Jaguars were willing to part with their best defensive lineman (Campbell) for a fifth-round pick, there’s reason to believe they’d trade a slot receiver who’s entering the last year of his contract for similar, if not less, compensation.

Carl Lawson, DE, Bengals

The Cowboys should call the Bengals about defensive end Carl Lawson’s availability for many of the same reasons they should call about William Jackson III.

A fourth-round pick in 2017, Lawson burst onto the scene with 8.5 sacks as a rookie while finishing eighth among edge defenders in pass-rush productivity, a metric that “measures pressure created on a per-snap basis with weighting toward sacks,” according to PFF. Unfortunately, in the two seasons since, he has dealt with a plethora of injuries that limited him significantly.

But when healthy, Lawson is an explosive pass rusher who would be able to replace and replicate the production left behind by Quinn at right defensive end. This was evident as Lawson got healthier toward the end of last season, posting 13 total pressures and two sacks in the final two games of 2019.

Lawson wins because of his exceptional get-off, deceptive footwork and violent hand technique. He loves to use a thunderous chop with his outside hand to defeat blockers’ hands and shorten the corner (above clip). He’s also developed an excellent long arm series that he can use when blockers try to hide that outside hand.

Given his injury history and the fact that draft picks are as valuable as ever, it shouldn’t take more than a mid-round pick to pry Lawson from the Bengals if they’re interested in moving on from him.

Lawson and the potential return of Randy Gregory would give the Cowboys some serious juice off the edge while also improving the depth of their pass rush as a whole. Dallas struggled mightily to create pressure when DeMarcus Lawrence and Quinn were off the field in 2019, but adding Lawson and Gregory to the fold would allow the team to maintain production when the starters are getting a breather.

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