Should the Cowboys take 1 big swing on draft day?

The Dallas Cowboys currently hold 10 draft picks going into this year’s NFL draft. Which begs the question:

Do they use all 10 picks and draft 10 players?

Or, do they take some of those extra picks in the final three rounds and take a big swing in the first round?

Jerry Jones hasn’t taken many such swings, especially since getting burned once a few years back. Still, it is a move the Cowboys need to be considering.

Especially if the right player is there to be taken.

The Prime Target

In my mock draft of the first round, I did not have any teams making any trades. Trying to predict what 32 general managers are going to do is a fool’s errand.

So I left the Cowboys with the 12th pick, and they selected wide receiver Luter Burden from Missouri.

But should they stay there? In my mind, there is a player who will make an impact on his position the same way Randy Moss did.

The Cowboys blew it when they passed on Moss, and he made them pay dearly for it every time he played Dallas.

Ashton Jeanty will be the same at running back. But right now, the Raiders are likely going to take him with the sixth pick.

Unless Jones decides to really go “all-in” and pulls the trigger on a trade with Las Vegas.

Maybe Dallas sends the 12th pick, a 2026 fourth round pick (Jones loves to throw those away anyway), and a 2025 sixth round pick for the Raiders sixth overall?

Depending on which value chart you use it comes about equal. Vegas might want a little more, but to be honest, I think it would still be worth doing.

The bonus being that the Cowboys would have a huge offensive piece that might just be enough to push them over the top.

They could still grab a defensive back and a receiver in the second round and use the rest of their picks to fill out both sides of the lines.

Would Jones pull the trigger though? I don’t believe the Cowboys really think Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders are the answer in the backfield.

The drop-off in talent level after Jeanty is significant as well.

Draft Day Trades

Dallas has made 72 trades during the NFL Draft since Jones took over the team in 1989. In recent years, Jones has most notably traded down, sometimes out of the first round altogether.

Here are some of the more memorable draft day trades involving the Cowboys.

• 1989: Second round (Steve Wisniewski) and sixth-round choice in 1989 (Jeff Francis) to L.A. Raiders for a second round (Daryl Johnston), a third round (Rhondy Weston) and a fifth-round choice (Willis Crockett) in 1989.
• 1990 – First round (obtained from Minnesota – Eric Green) and third-round choice (obtained from San Francisco – Craig Veasey) in 1990 to Pittsburgh for first-round choice (Emmitt Smith) in 1990.
• 1992 – First round (obtained from...