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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and COO Stephen Jones discuss matters\u00a0during the opening pick of the NFL Draft at The Star in Frisco, Texas, on April 24, 2025. (Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News)<\/p>\n
Tom Fox<\/p>\n
Making a trade during the\u00a0NFL draft<\/a> is part of Jerry Jones’ ecosystem.<\/p>\n The Cowboys’ owner and general manager has made 73 draft day deals since purchasing the franchise in 1989.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n He traded up in the 1990 draft, selecting Emmitt Smith<\/a> at No. 17 overall. Later, Smith would become the NFL’s all-time leading rusher and a Hall of\u00a0Famer.<\/p>\n In 1991, Jones traded three players and a second-round pick to draft Russell Maryland No. 1 overall.<\/p>\n He moved from No. 14 to No. 6, while also giving up a second-rounder, before drafting Morris Claiborne in 2012.<\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Jones also made a deal with his\u00a0NFC East rival, the Philadelphia Eagles, in 2021. He moved down from No. 10 to No. 12 before drafting Micah Parsons.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Those are some of the more notable deals under Jones. When the draft arrives April 23, Jones once again will be on the clock with an opportunity to make a trade for a franchise in need of improving a defense badly bereft of talent.<\/p>\n The Cowboys have two first-round picks, No. 12 and No. 20<\/a>, valuable draft capital that might be used to trade up or trade down.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve looked at that mirror a lot, about how to go up and down and trade and do those kinds of things,” Jones said. “And absolutely, we\u2019ll entertain improving or an in-draft read on what gives us a better chance to get another player, and still have our pick and the red meat of top players.”<\/p>\n This would be the seventh time in franchise history the Cowboys draft two players in the first round. The last time the Cowboys had two first-round picks was 2008 when Felix Jones (No. 22) and Mike Jenkins (No. 25) were picked.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Having two picks in the first round gives the Cowboys options.<\/p>\n They have a need at inside linebacker, pass rusher and\u00a0cornerback.<\/p>\n This draft is rich with talented pass rushers who fit in the Cowboys’ 3-4 scheme that requires big defensive ends with long arms and quick moves to reach the quarterback.<\/p>\n After not securing a deal to sign an inside linebacker in free agency, the Cowboys turn toward the draft. Club officials said they’re not afraid to draft a rookie and insert him at middle linebacker. This draft has plenty of them.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Finding a\u00a0cornerback, particularly one that plays the slot, is also of importance. Jones mentioned how the team didn’t value nickel corner enough after the departure of Jourdan Lewis in free agency last year.<\/p>\n These needs are on a list that lay on the desks of Cowboys’ officials seeking improvement for their team.<\/p>\n “Excited,” coach Brian\u00a0Schottenheimer said of having two first-round picks. “The unpredictability of it, you don’t know how it’s going to go. You really have no idea. There’s always a surprise or two. As these last couple of pro days happen and these last couple of 30 visits happen, we really kind of clean up our board.”<\/p>\n During the draft process, the Cowboys have reportedly held Top 30 visits with linebacker Sonny Styles<\/a>,\u00a0cornerbacks Keionte Scott and Mansoor Delane<\/a> and held discussions with pass rushers David Bailey<\/a>, Arvell Reese and Rueben Bain Jr.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Having draft capital \u2014 eight picks, two fewer than at the start of last year’s draft \u2014 is a benefit. The Cowboys could use one of their three fifth-round selections as an extra pick paired with a first-rounder to climb from No. 12.<\/p>\n Getting an extra pick on Day 2 (Rounds 2-3) is also of interest. The Cowboys started the offseason without a Day 2 pick, but trading defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa to San Francisco brought a return of a third-rounder (No. 92 overall).<\/p>\n “We\u2019ve had our best work, we had four and five times the draft capital back in the early years that I was involved in NFL of an average team,” Jones said. “And we missed on some, we missed on some trades, but we nailed a few. The main thing is because we had that much capital, we were probably cutting and shooting more at that particular time. We certainly had some success during that time. Probably nothing affects in the draft being able, this is an obvious statement, but nothing, no amount of skill, no amount of knowledge, can beat having a lot of draft capital, having a lot of picks. That\u2019ll win most of the time.”<\/p>\n The Cowboys could also \u2014 yes, get ready \u2014 trade one of their first-round picks to get a veteran player. If Las Vegas wants to re-enter trade talks for edge rusher Maxx Crosby<\/a>, the Cowboys would give up one of their first-round selections. The No. 20 pick seems reasonable to trade for Crosby.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Those are just some of the possibilities the Cowboys have with their draft capital.<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Of the 325 players drafted by the Cowboys since 1989, 113 were picked via trades.\u00a0<\/p>\n So is Jerry Jones willing to move up again?<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n “Absolutely,” Schottenheimer said. “Jerry is never afraid of making deals.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and COO Stephen Jones discuss matters\u00a0during the opening pick of the NFL Draft…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,93042,88775,89124],"class_list":{"0":"post-243376","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-headlines","10":"tag-dallas-news","11":"tag-tp-dallas-cowboys","12":"tag-tp-jerry-jones","13":"tag-tp-nfl-draft"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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