IRVING, Texas - The question lingers every year: Will the Cowboys be players at the trade deadline, looming Tuesday at 3 p.m. local time.
Usually, the answer is no. And if there is a deal, it's typically of little note. The Kelvin Garmon Trade and The Thomas Everett Trade are not part of the NFL lexicon. Every once in a while, though, the Cowboys will make a splash, most notably The Herschel Walker Trade in 1989.
That one worked out pretty well for the sellers, the Cowboys parlaying all those draft picks from the Minnesota Vikings into the foundation for their dynasty of the 1990s. The next-biggest deadline deal for the Cowboys came just over a year ago, on Oct. 14, when the team sent three draft choices to Detroit for the services of receiver Roy Williams and a seventh-round pick.
In his first interview as a Cowboy later that day, the Texas native Williams ironically mentioned that as a child he often played backyard games in a Walker replica uniform. Just as it wasn't clear who the winners of the Walker deal would be after 12 months, here the Cowboys sit on the eve of another trade deadline. One year after acquiring Williams, it's still up in the air whether they made the right decision.
For whatever reason, Williams has yet to make the kind of impact the Cowboys envisioned when they sent their first, third and sixth-round picks in April's draft to the Lions, who turned those choices into tight end Brandon Pettigrew, receiver Derrick Williams and running back Aaron Brown.
The rebuilding Lions got three young players, and the Cowboys, so far, have gotten 30 catches, 412 yards, two touchdowns and three injuries in 14 games.
But while the numbers haven't been there just yet, the Cowboys and Williams aren't giving up on one another.
"I think Roy is like us," Wade Phillips said. "I think we need to wait until the end of the season and see how he does.
"He's tried to do everything we've asked him to do. He's been banged up here lately. I'm looking forward to him coming back."
Williams' latest pains are the three bruised ribs and cartilage damage which caused him to miss the Week 5 win over Kansas City as well as both practices in the bye week. The receiver finally returned for a light workout on Monday.
Following just a few games with the Cowboys last season Williams began suffering from a plantar fasciitis foot injury, which wasn't completely healed until the off-season. He would later miss a week of preparation this preseason after bruising his shoulder during practice.
After spending much of the off-season working to develop timing with Tony Romo, receivers coach Ray Sherman says the latest injury setback has forced the quarterback-receiver duo to try and get back to where they were before Williams was injured against Denver.
"If we can just keep him healthy I think we can see some great things from him," Sherman said. "But the main thing is just him staying healthy."
Injuries haven't been the only obstacle. When Williams first arrived, Romo was hurt, stalling their mutual development. It took some time for the new weapon to become integrated into the offense, and he probably never was completely in 2008. He didn't start for the first three weeks, then was bumped up in his fourth game as a Cowboy, but Terrell Owens was on board then as well, so Williams had to take a back seat to his fellow receiver.
This year there were the two weeks when the Cowboys' running game was dominant, and against Denver it was tough for the entire passing game to get going. Whatever the issue has been on any given day, the fact is the Cowboys have not gotten as much out of Williams as they would have liked, and his role in the offense is a work in progress.
In 11 games, Williams' high in catches is just four, and he's yet to post a single 100-yard day as a Cowboy. Both Williams and the team would have expected more.
"I'm sure that he's probably felt that he hasn't had many opportunities," Sherman said. "But the main thing is, just like I tell him, is when you get the opportunities, just make the most of them. And that's basically what he has to do."
The good news is Williams won't let any frustrations he might have become an issue, something he may have learned in four-and-a-third seasons with the rugged Lions. Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett admits there have been times Williams was open and the Cowboys didn't get him the ball.
"I think when players see that on tape, you say 'Hey, there're some chances here that we just need to keep focused on and keep working on our part of the execution and things are going to come," Garrett said. "I think Roy feels that way, and it was great to see him out there today running around."
Because of the high price the Cowboys paid to bring him in and the $9 million per year contract extension he signed after the trade, the scrutiny on Williams has been as high any player. He's been the subject of criticism from fans and media, as well as former Cowboys players for whom he grew up cheering.
Williams, who didn't want to "talk Cowboys football" on Monday, said he is constantly amazed by the level of attention on he and his teammates compared to what there was in Detroit.
Though many of Williams' critics have already put the bust label on the trade that brought him here at this time last year, he and the Cowboys are not conceding anything. The expectations haven't changed.
"From what we had seen on tape, we were excited about it," Garrett said. "This was a guy who was a high draft pick coming out of Texas, and in a fairly tough environment had some productivity up there, so we were excited about what he was as a player and what he was as a person. And we're still excited about that."
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