Mike McCarthy spent half a decade running the Dallas Cowboys’ sideline under Jerry Jones. But now that he’s head coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers, McCarthy has fielded a call from his old boss. Jones was in the market for Steelers inside linebacker Patrick Queen, but talks have derailed once again.

“Sources have now told Steeler Nation that Jerry Jones and the Cowboys reached out to Pittsburgh to inquire about a potential deal for Queen,” Steeler Nation’s Anthony Halkias II reported the “brutal” trade offer. “However, their offer reportedly fell short of expectations, consisting of just a third-round pick.”

At 26, Queen is in the final year of a three-year, $41 million deal with a $17.2 million cap hit. And while trading him before June 1 would free up $13.3 million in cap space, that’s not enough to justify shipping out a key starter Pittsburgh specifically paid to pry away from division rival, the Baltimore Ravens.

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The front office has even publicly disputed that Queen is available for a trade.

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This wasn’t Dallas’ first run at him either. In mid-March, the Cowboys surfaced as a suitor before walking away without completing anything. Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram had reported it at the time.

“After a down year in 2025, Pittsburgh and Queen are expected to part ways this offseason, and a trade seems imminent for the former first-round pick,” Harris wrote. “Dallas had some intrigue in the building, but the team officially pulled out of its preliminary interest Thursday afternoon.”

Coming back weeks later with a lowball offer made the rejection easy for Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy and Co. But there’s also an irony Dallas can’t sidestep here. Dallas shipped its original 2026 third-round pick to Pittsburgh last year to land George Pickens.

The pick they’ve now offered Queen could be no. 92, acquired from the San Francisco 49ers in the Osa Odighizuwa trade, or even a future pick. But Pittsburgh knows exactly what that pick is worth. Asking them to do it for a $41 million linebacker is why a deal doesn’t pan out.

Mike McCarthy was the head coach for the Cowboys from 2020 through 2024. Sending his old team a positional piece they desperately need might not be so tempting. And then there’s the Pickens angle itself. Unable to manage his off-field antics and discipline issues, the Steelers clubbed a 2027 sixth-rounder with Pickens and shipped him to Dallas.

Fast forward, and Pickens immediately became a central piece of the offense that ranked second-best in the league. Pittsburgh won’t make the same mistake again, at least not for the same price.

Patrick Queen notably pulled the Steelers’ banner from his social media, replacing it with a quote: ‘Humble enough to know I’m replaceable but wise enough to know ain’t nobody like me.’ Whether that was a dig at his team or something else, it signaled that some internal conversations must have taken place.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac characterized the situation as nothing more than “rumors.” On the other hand, Steelers Depot’s Dave Bryan has outlined one narrow path that connects Queen to Dallas. If Jerry Jones misses out on Sonny Styles at pick no. 12, Dallas could trade back in the first round and fold Queen into a broader package. The board has to fall exactly right for any of that to work.

Jones is walking into draft week with the same linebacker problem he had in March. He’s taken two shots at filling it and flinched at the price both times. Now he wants to use the draft to fix it all, and whether he’s willing to actually spend is the only question that matters.

Jerry Jones reveals his bold draft plan

The Cowboys hold picks No. 12 and No. 20, with no second-round pick to fall back on. The biggest additions to the roster will have to be made with the first-rounders themselves. And at the league meetings, Jerry Jones made it clear that a trade won’t be out of the picture at the draft.

“I’ve looked at that mirror a lot, about how to go up and down and trade and do those kinds of things,” Jones had noted. “Absolutely. We’ll entertain improving on an in-draft read on what gives us a better chance to get another player, and still have our pick and the red meat of top players. Now that has an on-the-board aspect to it, but it’s very doable.”

Some analysts also believe the Cowboys could trade up to get Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, or Miami’s defensive end Reuben Bain Jr, both of whom have drawn significant interest from Dallas. Additionally, Jones also left the door open to trading down to acquire more picks as well.

“It’s one thing to sit here right now, it’s another thing to sit and look at it three hours into the draft and see what you got there. So all of that is a possibility,” Jones said. “This is an obvious statement, but nothing – no amount of skill, no amount of knowledge – can beat having a lot of draft capital, having a lot of picks. That’ll win most of the time.”

Without a round 2 pick, trading back from No. 20 to rebuild depth might just be a brilliant option given that Dallas has left so many needs unaddressed. The team added depth at cornerback, DT, and safety through free agency, but only signed a rotational prospect at linebacker in Tyrus Wheat.

With the draft clock ticking, Jerry Jones has the capital to solve his linebacker problem. The only question remaining is whether his public talk of flexibility will translate into the kind of aggressive move he’s so far been unwilling to make.