Dallas City News

Trade up, trade down, stay: What’s most likely for Cowboys in first round? – Jon Machota, The Athletic

Here’s how the Cowboys may change their draft position on draft night.

The areas of need have been well documented. The Dallas Cowboys need obvious help at left tackle, center, running back, linebacker and defensive tackle. An extremely quiet free-agency period has put Dallas in a spot where it must have a strong draft. And that begins with the 24th pick next week.

Will the Cowboys draft at that spot? Will they see a player worth trading up for? Will they decide the best move is to trade back?

Let’s break down the likelihood of each scenario.

Trading up: 1 percent chance

One percent might even be too high for a move that hasn’t happened for the Cowboys since 2012, when they traded their first- (No. 14) and second-round (No. 45) picks to the Rams in exchange for the sixth pick, which Dallas used to select cornerback Morris Claiborne. Dallas also traded up three spots in 2010 to draft wide receiver Dez Bryant 24th.

Another factor is just how conservative the Cowboys have been in their decision-making for the better part of the last decade. Moving up just seems too bold for the way they’ve been doing business.

Trade down: 33 percent chance

The only reason this number isn’t higher is because they have to have a partner. And who that potential partner could be might not even be known until they are on the clock. Moving back would make a lot of sense. The Cowboys need picks. They are already without a fourth-round selection because of the trade for quarterback Trey Lance. Their fifth-round pick is one of the last three in the round. So, if Dallas drafted with just the picks it currently owns, there would be 87 selections between its third- and fifth-round picks. It’s hard to believe the Cowboys will sit there and not make a pick while 87 players go off the board.

Eagles keep showing the Cowboys what ‘all in’ really means – Ralph Vacciano, Foxsports

Stephen Jones’ smug ineptitude summarized in six paragraphs.

Jones’ point was that the Cowboys are not exactly cheap, that they “spend max, max money year in and year out.” He also pointed to their already-stacked roster, which was good enough to win the division with a 12-5 record last season. And he indicated they weren’t active in free agency because they’re saving their money and salary cap space as they’re “looking towards signing our own guys.”

The Cowboys have three core players looking for contract extensions — quarterback Dak Prescott, receiver CeeDee Lamb and linebacker Micah Parsons. Prescott and Lamb, in fact, are entering the final year of their deals, which use up $73.1 million in salary cap space — a whopping 28.6 percent of the Cowboys’ cap for 2024.

Yet the Cowboys have not re-signed any of them. The cost would obviously have been high. There’s no doubt that all three players want to be among the highest-paid at their positions. But even if the Cowboys had granted their wish, those mega-extensions would have almost certainly lowered their cap hits in 2024 — especially for Prescott (whose cap number is a ridiculous $55.1 million) and Lamb ($17.9 million).

That savings could have allowed them to keep center Tyler Biadasz (who signed with the Washington Commanders), left tackle Tyron Smith (New York Jets), running back Tony Pollard (Tennessee Titans) or edge rusher Dorance Armstrong (Commanders). Or at least the extra cap space would have allowed them to replace the players they lost.

“What the Eagles are doing with the salary cap is not magic,” said one NFL executive. “They’re better than anyone at locking up their key players early. It looks expensive at first, but it almost always leads to financial flexibility later. They end up having less holes to fill and more money to fill them with.

“When you don’t do that, you’re stuck with the bloated back ends of contracts. That’s where the Cowboys are with Dak and with Lamb. I’m really surprised they didn’t fix that before free agency started.”

Cowboys add veteran RB Royce Freeman – Nick Eatman, DallasCowboys.com

Dallas adds depth in the running back room.

Nearly a week before the NFL Draft, the Cowboys have added both depth and experience at running back.

The Cowboys have signed Royce Freeman, a six-year veteran who has been with four different teams, including the Rams in 2023.

A third-round pick in 2018 of the Broncos, Freeman spent three years in Denver, followed by stops with the Panthers, Texans and Rams.

Freeman has spent the majority of his career as a backup and role player, with just nine career starts in 79 games played.

Freeman rushed for 319 yards last season in L.A., which was his most since 2019 and the third-highest of his career.

Adding Freeman, who has 471 rush attempts, makes him the most experienced back on the Cowboys by far. Rico Dowdle (96) is the only back with significant snaps. Other backs on the roster include Deuce Vaughn, Snoop Connor, Malik Davis and Hunter Luepke.

This move won’t likely change the Cowboys’ draft strategy next week as running back still seems to be one of the top priorities, especially after they lost starter Tony Pollard in free agency last month to Tennessee.

‘I don’t think Bill Belichick will ever be a coach again … Unless it’s [for] Jerry Jones’ | ESPN story points Belichick’s failed job hunt to Cowboys – Paul Livengood, WFAA

Hiring the most decorated coach in NFL history would be a classic Cowboys move.

ESPN published an article Wednesday morning that shone a light behind the curtain of Bill Belichick’s failed job hunt, which mainly centered around the drama between himself, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank. The eye-grabbing headline of the article was the reporting surrounding how Kraft allegedly warned Blank to not trust the 72-year-old head coach.

So, what the heck does this have to do with the Cowboys?

In the ESPN article, Dallas is named among a short list of teams Belichick “has told confidants he would be interested in coaching.” Furthermore, the article by Don Van Natta Jr. (who is writing a book on Jerry Jones), Seth Wickersham and Jeremy Fowler, cites a source connected to Belichick who said: “I don’t think Bill Belichick will ever be a head coach again in the National Football League … Unless it’s [for] Jerry Jones.”

ESPN reported in its article Wednesday that “Belichick told a friend that he liked the idea of sticking it to the Krafts by working for Jones.”

Cowboys’ Worst-Case 2024 NFL Draft Scenarios – Alex Ballentine, Bleacher Report

Missing out on some prospects or drafting some others too early are always concerns.

Missing out on the Offensive Tackle Run in Round 1

It’s good news for the Cowboys that this draft is absolutely loaded with high quality offensive line prospects. They have a clear need to find an early starter at either left guard or left tackle.

With Tyron Smith headed to the New York Jets, the Cowboys coaching staff should either be looking to move Tyler Smith back out to left tackle where he played as a rookie or they should be looking for a tackle in the first round.

Smith has clear potential to be an All-Pro guard. If they can find a worthy tackle prospect, it would make sense to keep him on the inside where he could follow in the footsteps of previous great Cowboys guards like Zack Martin and Larry Allen.

In a normal draft, it would be hard to expect to land that kind of tackle prospect with the 24th pick in the draft. However, there are six tackle prospects who rank in the top 37 prospects on our big board.

There are still scenarios that the Cowboys could miss out on one of those tackle prospects. Joe Alt, Olu Fashanu and JC Latham could all be top 10 picks. They went in the first 13 selections of our most recent mock draft.

In total, all six prospects ranked in the top 37 go in that first round projection and the Cowboys wind up with Amarius Mims. That would be just about perfect considering his immense upside and the potential value at No. 24.

Reaching on a Running Back

If there’s a team in the league that should understand the shifting value of running backs in the league it’s the Dallas Cowboys.

They saw the questionable value of Ezekiel Elliott’s massive contract extension a few years ago. They showed some of the wisdom they gained after watching Tony Pollard’s production plummet last season and opting to let him go to the Tennessee Titans this offseason.

All of that experience would be for naught if the Cowboys turn around and draft a running back too early.

There’s no first-round prospect in this year’s class. The top running back prospect on our board is Audric Estimé. The powerful Notre Dame back also doesn’t go until the third round in the scouting department’s “what they would do” mock draft.