Cowboys 'Thinking About A Trade' in NFL Draft, Says Owner Jerry Jones

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones admits he would like to trade up from the team's 26th overall pick in Thursday's NFL Draft.

FRISCO - To capture how fluid and unpredictable the NFL Draft is, consider that a year ago in the Dallas Cowboys pre-draft press conference owner Jerry Jones was busting at the seams about his team's new partnership with a crypto company.

Fads and trends change. So, too, positions and moves within the draft.

But one constant is Jerry's yearning to make a "splash" via trade. This year is no different, as he admitted Monday at The Star in Frisco that he has visions - if not a concrete plan - of moving up from the 26th overall pick.

"I do catch myself thinking about a trade," Jerry said. "But if that phone ain't ringing, it's because nobody's calling."

"I do catch myself thinking about trade, and we've done some of that. You're trying to get a higher value, get more points.” - #Cowboys #JerryJones - FULL STORY from The Star NOW https://t.co/XpImtdZoYw pic.twitter.com/a0k5YEplGK

— fishsports ✭ (@fishsports) April 24, 2023

Coming off two high-profile trades that brought cornerback Stephon Gilmore and receiver Brandin Cooks to a talented roster that won 12 games in the regular season and one in the playoffs, the Cowboys don't have glaring holes. They also, accordingly, don't have an attractive pick, instead buried at the end of the first round.

Said Jerry, "The problem is, the players that will get to us will have some warts on them."

Team COO Stephen Jones says Dallas will have "15, 16, 18 or so" first-round grades. The only way to grab one of those players? Trading up.

In line with their lineage of draft inconsistency, the rolling five-year report card reveals a mixed bag of good (Tyler Smith in '22, Micah Parsons in '21, CeeDee Lamb in ’20, Leighton Vander Esch in ’18 and Ezekiel Elliott/Dak Prescott in ’16) and downright putrid (Trysten Hill in ’19 and Taco Charlton in ’17).

Jerry has orchestrated 72 draft-day trades. Some have worked; others busted.

The Cowboys traded up to grab Dez Bryant (2010), DeMarcus Lawrence (2014) and Tyler Biadasz (2020). They also traded down in 2021 and still wound up with Micah Parsons. The ugliest recent trade up in the first round came in 2012, when Dallas shocked experts with a draft-night move up from No. 14 to No. 6 to select LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne. They boasted that Claiborne was their highest-rated corner since Deion Sanders, but he produced only four interceptions in five underwhelming seasons.

"It's like walking into a journalism class," Jerry said of the draft's uncertainty while pointing at the media throng at The Star, "and trying to pick out a Pulitzer Prize winner."

If the Cowboys do make a bold move into this year's Top 10, it could be for a prospect such as Texas running back Bijan Robinson. But with few needs and little ammunition, at this point the Cowboys seem more likely to let the draft come to them.

"Your draft board is like your play-call sheet in the Super Bowl," coach Mike McCarthy said. "You have to trust it, and have confidence there will be a hell of a football player available when we pick."

Said Stephen of a potential trade: "It will be - if you will - a game-day decision."

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