Cowboys’ Failed Trade Detailed by Insider

Cowboys Draft

Getty The Cowboys opted not to trade up in the draft.

The Dallas Cowboys made a small move down the draft board, but there was also a consideration for the team to move up. Sports Illustrated’s Mike Fisher reported the Cowboys held preliminary discussions with the Dolphins about moving up to No. 6.

“The Dallas Cowboys insist that Micah Parsons was the No. 1 defensive player on the NFL Draft board,” Fisher detailed. “But sources insist to me that Dallas examined the idea of a trade-up to the No. 6 spot as they sensed the two coveted cornerbacks were about to become scarce before the Cowboys’ pick at No. 10.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones responded to questions about the Cowboys considering moving up the draft board to potentially snag a cornerback. Jones noted the team valued trading back and landing Micah Parsons more than giving up assets to land a cornerback. Top cornerbacks Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain II were selected in consecutive picks before the Cowboys were originally on the clock at No. 10.

“I will answer that,” Jerry Jones explained in the team’s day one draft press conference. “Frankly, with what we got done, we didn’t want to spend anything to get up as long as we could get him [Micah Parsons] to go get those corners. We did not.”

Cowboys CEO Stephen Jones shot down the notion that the Cowboys explored trading up to get a cornerback. The Cowboys maintained that Parsons was ranked above both Horn and Surtain on their board.

“No, we weren’t wanting to give up what it would take to get up there,” Stephen Jones explained. “…You can imagine with what we got to move two spots back what it would have cost to go from 10 to 6.”

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The Cowboys Disputed the Rumors They Discussed a Trade Up with the Dolphins

The Cowboys continue to dispute the notion that they attempted to trade up in the first round. 105.3 the Fan’s Bryan Broaddus reported the Cowboys did not attempt to move up as he previously speculated the hypothetical jump could have been to get Parsons rather than a cornerback.

“Getting the news that DAL didn’t attempt to go up so that takes care of my Parsons thought there,” Broaddus explained on Twitter.

Fisher added that the talks between the Dolphins and Cowboys “didn’t go anywhere” given the likely cost of moving up that high in the draft.


Dallas Pulled off a Rare Trade with Their Rival

Dallas did pull off a rare trade within the division swapping picks with Philadelphia. The move still allowed the Cowboys to snag Parsons who they planned to take at No. 10 while adding a third-round selection in the process. The Cowboys now hold four day-two picks after their most recent move giving them the potential of having five rookies on their roster next season who were selected in the first three rounds.

“We were really pleased with what was on our board,” Stephen Jones noted, per DallasCowboys.com. “The need stuck out there a little bit with the corners, but we had some players that were rated ahead of the corners on natural grades. We were sitting there at 10 and we didn’t want to go too far back because we did really like Micah and we didn’t want to get in a position where we didn’t think we could get him.”