We know that the Dallas Cowboys hold picks 12 and 20 in the NFL draft, but lately there is a lot of chatter on the internet that America’s Team could be itching to make a first-round selection at some point in front of those. It would require some type of trade for the Cowboys to be able to do that and we are talking about a team who hasn’t traded up in the first round in a decade and a half.
Dallas last moved up in the first round of a draft back in 2012 and did so to select Morris Claiborne. They
were absolutely in love with Claiborne and while he was a fine player for the team he hardly delivered the return on that particular investment.
Perhaps the Cowboys are ready to invest along those lines again.
One NFL insider believes the Cowboys are the team most likely to move up
During Friday’s edition of The Insiders on NFL Network, top insiders Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport were discussing the idea of trading up in the draft.
The former asked the latter who he thought was the team most likely to do so. Rapoport was specific in noting that (because he was about to answer the Cowboys) he was not saying what he was about to say for attention and that he legitimately believed it.
“This is not clickbait. This is not so everybody will click on this and go wait, what. But the Cowboys are my team most likely to trade up. Again. This is not for clickbait. This is real.”
“I expect them to be at least in the mix potentially for coming up for a pass rusher or other top defensive player.”
“So maybe that’s, I don’t know, let’s say it’s someone like Rueben Bain. Let’s say it’s Mesidor. Let’s somehow, some way, Sonny Styles goes to 7, 8, maybe 9.”
“The Cowboys right now are sitting at 12. So you look at the landscape there. You have several teams who would potentially be open to moving back. Might the Cowboys jump up a little bit to get a key defensive piece in an offseason when it has all about fixing that defense.”
As noted there has been some chatter lately that the Cowboys could move up, but the idea seems dependent on a certain prospect falling to a range that they are comfortable moving towards. Rapoport specifically mentioned Rueben Bain, Akheem Mesidor, and Sonny Styles in this scenario.
Would you be okay with the Cowboys making a deal to move up for one of these players? Obviously it is hard to answer without knowing what they would hypothetically be giving up, but there is the smoke is really starting to burn here.
