Increasingly, it appears that much of the talk that was bandying about suggesting that the upcoming first round of the NFL draft could be marked by a significant number of trades has fizzled out. There are plenty of teams willing to move down in a player class that is uncertain, at best, but there are few teams actively seeking to move up. Because trades require two teams, the opportunities to move around appear limited. But one team is still carrying water as the most likely to make a move up the board: The Dallas Cowboys.
The reasoning is clear. The Cowboys need a difference-maker on defense, and would be willing to take one at edge rusher, linebacker, cornerback or safety. That is to say, pretty much anywhere along a defensive roster that was dead last in points allowed in 2025, at 511.
But the Cowboys have the No. 12 pick, and the way things are lined up at this point, there is a chance that the top-tier defensive players will be off the board when their pick rolls around. Complicating matters is that the Cowboys have the 20th pick, no second-rounder, and the 92nd pick, in the third round.
Cowboys Want to Land a Top NFL Draft Star
That’s why the Cowboys want to move up. There’s a feeling they could add the likes of Ohio State stars Arvell Reese, Sonny Styles or Caleb Downs, or a pass-rusher like David Bailey or Rueben Bain, or star cornerback Mansoor Delane from LSU. There’s a drop-off after those guys.
But for former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum, that would be a significant mistake by the Cowboys. Giving away assets in this draft does not make sense for a team with so many holes to fill.
Said Tannenbaum, on the “Get Up” ESPN morning program, when asked about trading up: “No, no and no. We don’t pick until pick No. 92, so we have too many holes at all three levels of the defense. We are not one player away. We’ve got to stick and pick and 12 and 20. If anything, we might trade back a little bit so we don’t watch 72 players come off the board before we pick again.”
GettyOhio State linebacker Sonny Styles is a potential Dallas Cowboys target.
Weighing Cowboys Cost for Moving Up
Part of the issue there is that there’s no telling what the Cowboys would have to give up to land high enough to secure one of the top defensive players in the draft. There are six outstanding names, and with the likelihood that quarterback Fernando Mendoza goes No. 1, and that running back Jeremiyah Love, wide receiver Carnell Tate and at least one offensive lineman will also be Top 10 picks, the Cowboys probably would need to get into the Top 9 to make sure they could a defender they want.
They would certainly not want to give up pick 20 to get into the Top 10, though. That’s why it gets tricky for the Cowboys, who could be forced to offer picks in 2027 to successfully move up the board.
‘What Makes the NFL Draft so Compelling’
But the ability to land a top-tier star in a draft that does not have many of them could be too tempting for the Cowboys. ESPN’s Adam Schefter brought up a scenario on Monday that suggests Reese could be on the board in the middle of the Top 10.
Wrote Schefter: “It would suddenly be very tempting for a team such as the Cowboys to potentially trade up for a top-tier pass rusher. Again, the draft would have to go a specific way for this scenario to play out. But two teams raised this scenario this weekend, wondering if it somehow could unfold this week. It’s exactly the type of scenario that makes the draft so compelling.”
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