Before the injury, Irvin himself was nearly traded to the Los Angeles Raiders to help bring talent to the Cowboys and potentially pair Irvin up with Tim Brown, but Raiders owner Al Davis essentially talked Johnson out of the trade by saying, "You sure you want to do that? Who is going to catch passes for you?". This led to Johnson to trade the only other option he felt the team had as trade bait, Herschel Walker, in what would become the Herschel Walker trade.