The idea of the Dallas Cowboys drafting a defensive end in the first round of this month’s draft is hardly a new one. In fact, many fans would say the need for Dallas to draft one goes as far back as last offseason when the Cowboys traded away one of the game’s best pass rushers in Micah Parsons. Donovan Ezeiruaku became part of the solution as a rookie that showed promise despite making his NFL debut for an otherwise historically bad defense, but now will be moving to an outside linebacker pass rushing
role in Christian Parker’s defense. The Cowboys have added Rashan Gary to continue building their pass rush, but for a team desperate to field a defense that can make every point their expensive, high-octane offense scores matter more, pass rush is the path of least resistance to doing so. The Cowboys should be doing everything they can to take a pass rusher in the draft.
The top group of defensive ends and pass rush specialists with first-round talent in this draft as a whole is impressive, but that isn’t to say there aren’t gaps from the top guys on down. If the Cowboys want to tap into the best of the best this class offers in pass rush, a trade up from their 12th overall pick will likely be needed. Recently we’ve had some rumors about who the Cowboys could potentially target if they do trade up.
Todd McShay has been a staple of draft coverage for practically as long as following the draft through mainstream sports media has been a thing. On a recent episode of The McShay Show podcast, he mentioned the Arizona Cardinals with the third overall pick as a team the Cowboys may be interested in trading up with, specifically to target Texas Tech defensive end David Bailey.
The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman made this exact trade and pick in his mock draft released on April 1st as well, adding more fuel to the fire that the Cowboys could be coming on the clock much earlier than anticipated on night one of the draft.
The idea that the Cowboys can actually pull off this trade solely by giving up the 92nd overall pick they acquired from the 49ers in the Osa Odighizuwa trade, and holding onto the 20th overall pick in the first round, feels very unlikely. The more interesting side of this to look into is the Cowboys potential preference at defensive end being David Bailey.
Our full scouting report on Bailey shows that he is an ideal 3-4 outside linebacker rusher, but also capable of playing as a down defensive end. The Cowboys still need more juice from the standup pass rush position, but also a defensive end, so checking both boxes with a top-five pick that will take sending away additional draft capital to get is smart drafting.
This versatility and experience for Bailey, who played in 46 collegiate games at Stanford and Texas Tech, stands out above fellow top prospects Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor from Miami, as well as Keldrick Faulk from Auburn or Cashius Howell at Texas A&M. Mesidor, Faulk, and Howell would all become much more high-value picks at 12th overall if the Cowboys do not make a trade up, but there is one more prospect to consider here to paint the full picture of pass rush options for Dallas.
Ohio State’s Arvell Reese is the cream of the crop for pass rushers in this year’s draft, and a prospect that will undoubtedly have his name called high, possibly as early as number two overall to the New York Jets after the Las Vegas Raiders likely select Fernando Mendoza with the first pick. If Reese is not the Jets pick though, the Cowboys price to trade up with the Cardinals at three would likely go up, even if Dallas still prefers Bailey over the pure stand-up player in Reese.
Reese is one of the most noteworthy names to appear on the Cowboys’ top-30 visits list, along with his Ohio State teammates Caleb Downs and Sonny Styles at safety and linebacker. This trio is a solid indicator that the Cowboys are going to be at very least exploring the idea of a significant trade up to be in range of drafting any of them, or could see a potential run on Ohio State defenders including Reese leave Bailey on the board later to lower the cost of a trade up from pick 12. The Cowboys are also in position where one or two surprising picks on the offensive side of the ball, perhaps a second quarterback coming off the board before 12, could make sticking with their original pick and having their choice of multiple defenders the best route.
The Cowboys were thoroughly embarrassed on defense last season, and dragged for trading away Micah Parsons as part of the entire ordeal, and now seemingly want to make a statement with their pass rush early in the 2026 Draft to right some of these wrongs and give Christian Parker’s defense a blue chip player to build around in the front seven.
