Dallas Cowboys Named 'Sleeper' in Trade for Derrick Henry of Titans: Rumor or Truth?

Dallas Cowboys Named 'Sleeper Team' in Trade for Derrick Henry of Titans: Rumor or Truth?

FRISCO - The media-manufactured connection between the Dallas Cowboys and Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry is a long-running one, dating back to the spring when the national media errantly reported that the Cowboys had called the Titans seeking to take on the $12.6 million back to pair with $10 million back Tony Pollard.

It was neither true nor logical at the time. Has that changed?

A media guy named "Tony Pauline'' - who's bio on himself reads, "Tony Pauline is the Consulting Editor and NFL Draft Analyst at Sportskeeda. He is one of the best in the business for extensive NFL Draft coverage and insider news'' - says that "the Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens as well as one sleeper team I’m hearing about'' are in on Henry.

That "sleeper team''? Pauline writes (at the very bottom of this story), The sleeper team expected to be in the market for Henry are the Dallas Cowboys. The belief from many is Henry could end up in the NFC East with the Cowboys.''

Derrick Henry

We will say before we trudge on that outside of the same more-smoke-than-fire rumors that have existed for months, we have no Cowboys source who has confirmed this connection and we have no Titans source who has confirmed this connection.

Does that make it untrue? Of course not. But we say, as respectfully as we can, that we're a bit troubled by the "looseness'' being employed here. To wit: 1) We find it strange that a legit angle about the Cowboys being interested in Henry would be buried at the very bottom of a story. 2) Call us nitpickers, but we're bothered that the story refers to Henry as a "perfect'' Cowboys addition (there's no such thing) and that it refers to Henry as a "compliment'' to Tony Pollard (that's the wrong spelling of the word "complement.'') 

And most of all, this bugs us: 3) "While it’s all speculation at this point,'' Pauline writes, "this is what league insiders tell me.''

Cowboys Trade for Derrick Henry Rumor? 'Get That Guy!'

That makes for quite an escape hatch should it turn out that we (or another reputable media outlet) gets information from the Cowboys or the Titans exposing this story to be bogus. "Well, it turned out not to be true, but that is what league insiders told me'' doesn't really fly here.

This doesn't smell like a "scoop.'' It smells like a "guess.'' That alone doesn't make it implausible and it doesn't make it a bad idea. But we're not convinced it adds up to Dallas being a "sleeper team'' putting in bids on Derrick Henry, either.