The Cowboys closed a two-day tackle shuffle on Sunday, trading Nate Thomas to the Houston Texans for a 2027 seventh-round pick hours before the NFL's 5 p.m. CT deadline to reach 53.
DallasCowboys.com posted the agreement at 4:21 p.m. Thomas, 25, was Dallas' seventh-round choice in 2024 out of Louisiana. He spent his rookie year on injured reserve, then played all 17 games in 2025 with four starts, primarily at left tackle when he filled in.
Camp recast him as a swing tackle. The Dallas Morning News, citing a person with knowledge of the situation, reported the same 2027 seventh-round return. NBC Sports' Charean Williams matched that round.
A club cuts recap at 5 p.m. listed the deal as a "2027 draft pick" and did not name the round.
A day earlier, Dallas had added Broderick Jones from Pittsburgh. Charean Williams wrote that Jones' arrival made Thomas expendable after a camp that began with Thomas pushing Tyler Guyton at left tackle.
Guyton stays, Jones takes the swing
A few weeks into camp, head coach Brian Schottenheimer told reporters Guyton would remain with the first-team offense. The staff wanted more consistency from Thomas before he could push for that job.
"We talked to Nate and said, 'Nate needs to show us a little bit more consistent play to push for that,'" Schottenheimer said. "And so I know we had told you guys about the rotation, so Tyler [Guyton] will stay at left tackle. Excited to see how Nate handles that challenge. But Tyler's playing really, really well."
The Morning News wrote that Thomas then worked with the second team at right tackle. Jones, who has played both the left and right sides, filled the swing role Dallas had been trying to solve internally.
Owner and general manager Jerry Jones had already flagged more movement after the preseason finale.
"We've seen some guys that we might make some shifting around if it called for it," Jones said. "But we've got a good plan. We'll see where we go from here, it's not over yet."
