The Dallas Cowboys currently hold 10 draft picks going into this year’s NFL draft. Which begs the question:
Do they use all 10 picks and draft 10 players?
Or, do they take some of those extra picks in the final three rounds and take a big swing in the first round?
Jerry Jones hasn’t taken many such swings, especially since getting burned once a few years back. Still, it is a move the Cowboys need to be considering.
Especially if the right player is there to be taken.
The Prime Target
In my mock draft of the first round, I did not have any teams making any trades. Trying to predict what 32 general managers are going to do is a fool’s errand.
So I left the Cowboys with the 12th pick, and they selected wide receiver Luter Burden from Missouri.
But should they stay there? In my mind, there is a player who will make an impact on his position the same way Randy Moss did.
The Cowboys blew it when they passed on Moss, and he made them pay dearly for it every time he played Dallas.
Ashton Jeanty will be the same at running back. But right now, the Raiders are likely going to take him with the sixth pick.
Unless Jones decides to really go “all-in” and pulls the trigger on a trade with Las Vegas.
Maybe Dallas sends the 12th pick, a 2026 fourth round pick (Jones loves to throw those away anyway), and a 2025 sixth round pick for the Raiders sixth overall?
Depending on which value chart you use it comes about equal. Vegas might want a little more, but to be honest, I think it would still be worth doing.
The bonus being that the Cowboys would have a huge offensive piece that might just be enough to push them over the top.
They could still grab a defensive back and a receiver in the second round and use the rest of their picks to fill out both sides of the lines.
Would Jones pull the trigger though? I don’t believe the Cowboys really think Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders are the answer in the backfield.
The drop-off in talent level after Jeanty is significant as well.
Draft Day Trades
Dallas has made 72 trades during the NFL Draft since Jones took over the team in 1989. In recent years, Jones has most notably traded down, sometimes out of the first round altogether.
Here are some of the more memorable draft day trades involving the Cowboys.
- 1989: Second round (Steve Wisniewski) and sixth-round choice in 1989 (Jeff Francis) to L.A. Raiders for a second round (Daryl Johnston), a third round (Rhondy Weston) and a fifth-round choice (Willis Crockett) in 1989.
- 1990 – First round (obtained from Minnesota – Eric Green) and third-round choice (obtained from San Francisco – Craig Veasey) in 1990 to Pittsburgh for first-round choice (Emmitt Smith) in 1990.
- 1992 – First round (obtained from Minnesota – Eugene Chung) and third round (obtained from Minnesota – Kevin Turner) choice in 1992 to New England for first round (obtained from Atlanta – traded to Atlanta – Tony Smith), second round (Darren Woodson) and fourth round (obtained from Atlanta – traded to Atlanta – Frankie Smith) in 1992.
Most notable about these trades is that they were made by Jimmy Johnson and built a three-time championship team.
Jones’ record is not quite as good though.
- 1994 – First round choice (William Floyd) and second-round choice (Tyronne Drakeford) in 1994 to San Francisco for first round choice (Shante Carver) and seventh-round choice (traded to L.A. Raiders – Rob Holmberg) in 1994.
- 1997 – First round (Jon Harris) and fifth-round choice (Luther Broughton) in 1997 and third round choice in 1998 to Philadelphia for first-round choice (David LeFleur) in 1997.
Whoops…
To be fair, also in 1997, Jones did turn a second-round pick into Dexter Coakley in the third round, but the fourth-round pick that went with it was wasted on Antonio Anderson.
Jones then went through a run of hit-and-miss early in this century.
- April 21, 2001 – Third-round choice (Sedrick Hodge) and third-round choice from Indianapolis (Kenny Smith) in 2001 to New Orleans for second-round choice (Quincy Carter) in 2001.
- April 20, 2002 – First-round choice (Ryan Sims) in 2002 to Kansas City for first-round choice (Roy Williams) and third-round choice (Derek Ross) in 2002 and sixth-round choice (Zuriel Smith) in 2003.
- April 20, 2002 – Third-round choice (Roosevelt Williams) from Miami, fourth-round choice (Alex Brown) and fifth-round choice (Bobby Gray) in 2002 to Chicago for second-round choice (Antonio Bryant) and fourth-round choice (Jamar Martin) in 2002.
Carter and Bryant had potential, but they never really lived up to it. The move to land Roy Williams, the defensive back, not the receiver, paid off nicely.
In 2010, Dallas made early-round moves that landed Dez Bryant and Sean Lee.
But in 2012, Jones got snakebit when he moved up to land Morris Claiborne in the first round. The two picks he traded to the Rams for Claiborne?
Michael Brockers and Alshon Jeffery. Ouch.
But Jones rebounded the next year to land both Travis Frederick and Terrance Williams, while the 49ers got Eric Reid.
A win-win for both teams.
And in 2014, the Cowboys turned a second and a third-round pick into DeMarcus Lawrence.
The Redskins did not get good value from those two picks.
In 2021, the Cowboys missed on DeVonta Smith, but as they landed Micah Parsons and Chauncey Golston in that trade, I doubt anyone was crying at The Star over it.
And of course, last year, Dallas moved down five spots to end up with Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe.
Just Do It
Yes, not all the 72 trades have panned out.
Yes, some of them have been real stinkers.
But more than a few have worked out nicely. Jones needs to quit focusing on the misses and take one last big swing in two weeks.
Pulling a trade with Las Vegas, or maybe even a spot sooner with Jacksonville, lands Jeanty.
It might even be the spark that ignites a run to end the Cowboys’ championship drought.
So, go all-in and just do it, Jerry Jones.