Cowboys ‘Proposed’ Trade: Move Up in NFL Draft for WR Chris Olave?

Olave put up a blazing 4.39-second time in the 40-yard dash at the Combine. And the Cowboys front office has telegraphed its plan …

FRISCO - The depth in this receivers class in the 2022 NFL Draft is among the reasons the Dallas Cowboys turned the page on Amari Cooper.

So, given that depth, why trade up from No. 24?

That’s the hole in the logic of a “proposed” media trade that would bring Chris Olave to Dallas.

It is true that as the Cowboys sit at No. 24, they are positioned behind teams behind teams like the Packers (No. 22) who also have a need at receiver. And that as much as anything is surely the genesis of the Bleacher Report idea suggesting a trade that has the Cowboys jumping over the Patriots (at 20) and Green Bay to get Olave.

BR wants Dallas to snag the No. 20 pick from the Steelers to select Ohio State star receiver Olave. 

What’s Dallas’ cost here? It sends Pittsburgh the fourth (No. 129) and fifth-round picks (No. 155).

Let’s dig in …

*Olave (6-1, 189) is one of the top receivers in the NFL Draft, with 65 catches for 936 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2021 and a total of 32 touchdowns over his last three seasons.

The Athletic’s Dane Brugler has Olave being selected at No. 19 in his latest mock, meaning he could be the second receiver off the board. But along with fellow Buckeyes wideout Garrett Wilson, USC Drake London, Alabama’s Jameson Williams, Arkansas’ Treylon Burks, aren’t there enough first-round wideouts coming out that make a trade-up unnecessary?

*It has been suggested that the pair of draft picks proposed here is “too much.” Actually, BR gets this part right; an NFL trade value chart will actually tell you that Dallas wins this trade.

But as we’ve long felt here (call it our “Mo Claiborne Rule”) we’d rather throw more darts, and are generally opposed to trade-ups.

*As we’ve reported, Olave is one of three receivers set to visit Dallas along with Burks and London, the trio part of the Cowboys “30 Visits” list.

So Dallas likes him.

*And there is a lot to like. Olave put up a blazing 4.39-second time in the 40-yard dash at the Combine. And the Cowboys front office has telegraphed its plan to use the top of this draft for this position (and O-line), to help alongside CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup.