Revisiting the Cowboys-Lions Trade for Roy Williams

In the middle of the 2008 season, the 0-16 Detroit Lions tried to jettison one of their veteran stars to gain draft picks, but they inadvertently created one of the worst trades in NFL history.

The Lions traded wide receiver Roy Williams to the Dallas Cowboys for a first-round pick they later used on tight end Brandon Pettigrew, a third-round pick that became wide receiver Derrick Williams, and a sixth-round pick that turned into running back Aaron Brown. Neither team got what they were hoping for in this deal.

The Cowboys planned to have one of the great receiver tandems in the league between Williams and Terrell Owens, but the former Texas star struggled to get open consistently. His yards per game average dropped from 64.7 with the Lions to 33.1 with the Cowboys, and he never topped 600 yards receiving in a season. The Cowboys released Williams in 2010, and he played one more year with the Chicago Bears before leaving football.

The haul of picks the Lions got were all disappointing. Brown ran for just 189 yards in three seasons, while Williams caught only nine passes for 82 yards as a pro.

Although Pettigrew played for the Lions for seven years, topping 700 yards in his second and third seasons, he fell off a cliff after his lack of athleticism was exposed. He was released after 2015.

Who Won The Trade?

The is one of the great "lose-lose" trades in recent NFL history. While the Cowboys are often considered the "losers" in this deal because of how disappointing Williams was, the Lions failed to do much with the draft picks they acquired in return. It's best for both fanbases to agree that this deal was awful and never speak of it again.