If they could find a partner, the Cowboys should trade back from pick 24
For quite a while, the Dallas Cowboys have leaned almost entirely on the NFL draft to find new talent. This year is no different. They have been typically inactive in free agency and are not expected to do much else, although rumors are swirling about a possible reunion with Ezekiel Elliott to bolster the running back room, or perhaps Dalvin Cook if that couldn’t be worked out. Neither would move the needle much. But over the past couple of seasons, they have also been more willing to trade away future picks, as they did last year for Stephon Gilmore and Brandin Cooks. That has left them very short on draft
picks. They currently hold only seven, with no fourth-round pick and two in the seventh. Scant is a good word to describe their draft capital this year.
Add in the multiple places they could use new blood, and this is an uneasy situation. They really could use some more selections.
While they could attempt to trade away a player for picks, that seems highly unlikely. What is more possible is trading back. Holding the 24th overall spot is not all that great for doing so, but this is a year when the Cowboys should be working the phones rather than waiting on other teams to call.
It all depends on another team wanting to add someone with that 24th pick and having some attractive picks of their own to offer. The most likely scenario would be a team that did not do well last year and needs an infusion of talent.
Based on the the current draft order, here is one possible trade partner. The Arizona Cardinals finished 4-13 last year, which put them in a good place in the order. Further, through past transactions, they have a lot of picks, eleven overall. They are a team that Dallas should be trying to talk into a deal. Using the draft calculator from Calculator Soup, here is something that could net the Cowboys more picks.
Dallas trades number 24 for Arizona’s 35, 90, and 138. That is a slight advantage for the Cardinals, but the Cowboys have their own value chart, and might be willing to go with it. They could also ask for 186 from Arizona as well, which tilts slightly in Dallas’ favor.
But if they just got the three picks back, that sets them up with two picks in the second, two in the third, and gets them into the fourth round. In general, the first four rounds are seen as premium picks. More importantly, that gives them nine selections to work with. Drafting is a numbers game, and the more picks you can take earlier in the process, the more likely you are to get real help. At the moment, they just don’t have enough picks to fill all the needs they face.
They could also try and move back just a little in the first round while still getting something of value. The Buffalo Bills also are flush with picks. If they wanted to move up from 28, they could package that with their two fourth round picks at 128 and 133, which is nearly an even trade in value for the teams. Those two shots at the fourth would be very useful as there is often good talent still on the board at that point.
There are many different ways to put together trades. Those are just two at least plausible scenarios. It all comes down to finding a willing trade partner. That is not always possible, but this is a year when the Cowboys need to be more aggressive in trying to come up with more picks. While aggressiveness is something about which Dallas, and particularly Stephen Jones, are not often mentioned in the same sentence, the way they have been trading picks for
players lately offers at least a glimmer of hope it could happen. There is no question that the team needs more ammo for this year’s draft. Then they could rely on Will McClay to use the added resources effectively. It also includes a hope that 2023 was an aberration and not the start of a trend, but the latter is too terrible to contemplate. We probably would not see anything happen until Dallas goes on the clock. Admittedly, it is not a strong hope, but this is a year that calls for taking action.
