{"id":594009,"date":"2026-04-10T04:21:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T04:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/594009\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T04:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T04:21:08","slug":"nfl-draft-rumors-cowboys-trading-up-into-top-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/594009\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Draft Rumors: Cowboys Trading Up Into Top 10?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 NFL Draft<\/a> is just two weeks away, and there’s already some buzz building that the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> could make a bold move up the board to land one of the elite prospects in this year’s class.<\/p>\n

The Cowboys currently own a pair of first-round picks, both in the top 20. They have their original selection at No. 12 overall, as well as the No. 20 overall selection from the Green Bay Packers<\/a>, which they acquired in the Micah Parsons<\/a> trade.<\/p>\n

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But the rumor mill is already churning, with some indications the Cowboys could package those two selections to jump into the top 10 for a blue-chip defender.<\/p>\n

Longtime draft insider Todd McShay indicated earlier this week the Cowboys could be in play to move up as high as the No. 3 overall pick in a potential swap with the Arizona Cardinals<\/a>, targeting a top edge rusher like Texas Tech’s David Bailey:<\/p>\n

ESPN’s Jordan Reid echoed the buzz<\/a> that Dallas could be looking to move up the board for a top defender, naming two others as potential targets: Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. or Ohio State<\/a> safety Caleb Downs.<\/p>\n

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“Trading up continues to be a possibility, especially if there’s a player they have high on their board who backslides a tad,” Reid said. “Safety Caleb Downs (Ohio State) and edge rusher\u00a0Rueben Bain Jr. (Miami) are believed to be players whom the Cowboys would maneuver for, as Dallas reportedly sees both as instant-impact game changers on defense.”<\/p>\n

All three of those prospects are top-10 talents in this draft, and would obviously fill huge needs on the Dallas defense. But is trading up the smart move for the Cowboys?<\/p>\n

For a team that already has more needs than picks, Dallas would be better suited to keep their pair of first-rounders in a draft that’s heavy on top talent at the positions on defense where they need the most help. This year’s draft is loaded at edge defender and defensive back, which should give the Cowboys plenty of worthy options at the 12th and 20th picks, and the depth of this year’s linebacker class should give them solid options in the middle rounds.<\/p>\n

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Related: 2026 NFL Mock Draft: Big Trades, Latest Rumors Shake Up New 4-Round Forecast<\/a><\/p>\n

Without a second-round pick thanks to the Quinnen Williams trade, Dallas might even be better off trading down to add another Day 2 selection to take advantage of that defensive depth in this year’s draft, rather than moving up for one top-end player.<\/p>\n

Speaking of those blue-chip defenders, there’s even a possibility that one of them could fall right into the Cowboys’ lap at the No. 12 overall pick.<\/p>\n

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Along with Bailey, Bain and Downs, other highly ranked defensive players the Cowboys could be targeting include Ohio State linebacker\/edge rusher Arvell Reese, Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles, and this year’s top cornerback<\/a> tandem (LSU<\/a>‘s Mansoor Delane and Tennessee’s Jermod McCoy).<\/p>\n

With Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza<\/a> expected to be the No. 1 overall pick, the Cowboys would need just four other offensive players to come off the board in the top 11 picks to ensure one of those elite defenders make it to their current spot. Notre Dame<\/a> running back Jeremiyah Love<\/a> should be a lock to go in the top 10, as well as Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate. Another of this year’s top pass-catchers could also climb into the top 11 (USC’s Makai Lemon, Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson), or one of the top offensive tackles in the class (Miami’s Francis Mauigoa, Utah’s Spencer Fano).<\/p>\n

Bailey and Reese are likely top-five locks, and Styles won’t make it out of the top 10. But it’s possible that if enough offensive players come off the board ahead of Dallas, Bain or Downs could fall to them. If they’re off the board, landing an elite corner like Delane or McCoy would still be a huge win.<\/p>\n

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If things don’t go their way, and all of those top defensive targets are off the board, the Cowboys could then look to move back and add extra picks while getting better value at those positions of need instead of paying a premium to move up the board for a specific player. This scenario would allow Dallas to fill as many needs as possible, and perhaps even give them an opportunity to spend a luxury pick on the other side of the ball.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Apr 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NFL Draft is just two weeks away, and there’s already some buzz building that the Dallas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":594010,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[1745,49,115070,48,1721,23255,38186,1730,221438,6390,1731,514,5003,28544,94513,82,1445,29822],"class_list":{"0":"post-594009","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-arizona-cardinals","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-caleb-downs","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-dallas-cowboys","13":"tag-david-bailey","14":"tag-elite-prospects","15":"tag-green-bay-packers","16":"tag-jordan-reid","17":"tag-miami","18":"tag-micah-parsons","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-ohio-state","21":"tag-quinnen-williams","22":"tag-sonny-styles","23":"tag-sports","24":"tag-tennessee","25":"tag-the-cowboys"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/594010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}