Newly acquired Broderick Jones will compete with Terence Steele at right tackle, Cowboys say

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Newly acquired offensive lineman Broderick Jones will get a chance to start at right tackle for the Dallas Cowboys over Terence Steele, whose performance has lagged since his emergence as an undrafted free agent six years ago.

The Cowboys gave up picks in the third and sixth round of next year's draft to get Jones and a fourth-rounder next year.

Coach Brian Schottenheimer called third-year left tackle Tyler Guyton to tell him the move didn't affect Dallas' 2024 first-round pick. Schottenheimer made the same call to Steele — with a different message.

“We’re not going to move Broderick around,” Schottenheimer said. “As you guys can imagine, Terence Steele was the ultimate pro, ‘Schotty, I get it. I appreciate the phone call. You didn’t have to make the phone call.’ I said, ‘I did because I respect you that much as a teammate and a player.’ So Broderick will be competing with Terence to be the starting right tackle of this football team.”

Jones was the 14th overall pick out of Georgia in the 2023 draft. He started 38 of the 45 games he played in three seasons with the Steelers.

Jones missed the final six games last season after an awkward hit to his neck on Nov. 23 against Chicago. The 25-year-old went on injured reserve and had season-ending fusion surgery that required a lengthy rehab.

“There’s some fundamental things that we’re excited that we feel like we can kind of tighten up,” Schottenheimer said. “I know he’s really excited to be here. Sometimes a change of scenery is a good thing.”

Steele was a bright spot in an otherwise dismal 2020 pandemic season for Dallas. Undrafted out of Texas Tech, he started 14 of 16 games as a rookie. He has started all 17 games each of the past three years.

The 29-year-old Steele's performance has been spotty in recent seasons and didn't improve much in training camp this year, leading to the trade.

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