Rumor: Dallas Cowboys negotiating for the No. 1 pick

Could the Dallas Cowboys be in serious talks with the Tennessee Titans for the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft? One draft insider says that it is a possibility.

Reports are beginning to surface that the Dallas Cowboys are not only interested in moving up to the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft but that they have had discussions with the Tennessee Titans about a possible trade. Is this a really possibility or just another round of pre-draft minutia?

The Dallas Cowboys have not drafted in the top five of the NFL Draft since 2003 but at least one source is reporting that even this year’s No. 4 pick may not be high enough to satisfy Cowboys’ general manager Jerry Jones’ desires.

Draftinsider.net contributor Tony Pauline says that the Dallas Cowboys have their sights set on Florida State defensive back Jalen Ramsey. However, most believe that the freakish athlete who set the NFL Combine on fire with his performance in February will not be around when Dallas picks at No. 4.

While any information that circulates this close to the draft must be taken with a grain of salt, this idea does not seem too far-fetched. No NFL executive has made more draft day trades than Jones and he has a history of making aggressive moves when he covets a certain player.

In 2012, the Dallas Cowboys traded up eight spots to pick No. 6 to draft LSU corner back Morris Claiborne. In 2010, Jones orchestrated a trade with the New England Patriots to move up three spots (from No. 27 to No. 24) to select Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant.

Many experts have suggested the best move for Dallas is to do the opposite and trade down to accumulate more picks in order to fill more holes on the roster. Some suggest that in trading back, the Cowboys could land a defensive lineman and a quarterback, both of which would fill needs.

However, Jerry Jones seems desperate to win a title in the next few years so trading up to land a player that could make an immediate impact would not be an outrageous idea. Plus, should the team land Ramsey it would then have leverage in another roster issue it faces this off season.

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The Dallas Cowboys desperately want to restructure the contract of corner back Brandon Carr who is set to earn an ungodly $13.8 million next season. With Ramsey on the team, Dallas would then view Carr as a luxury rather than a necessity and could strong-arm him into taking a pay cut, which he has adamantly refused to do thus far.

Should the Cowboys land Ramsey, either by trading up to the first pick or by having him land in their lap at pick No. 4, the team would have one of the best defensive backfields in the game. Ramsey would combine with corner back Orlando Scandrick and safeties Bruce Jones and Barry Church to give Dallas a dominant defensive position group similar to the team’s offensive line that features three first round picks.

Opponents of this move say that the Dallas Cowboys need to accumulate as many picks in the top 100 of the draft as possible rather than giving some away. A trade up to the No. 1 pick would cost the Cowboys their second round pick and another pick later in the draft or in a future draft meaning the team would potentially forfeit the opportunity to add more than one starter to the roster in this year’s critical draft.

Another angle to consider is whether or not this information is actually legitimate. It is possible that the Titans could be the ones leaking this information to try to chum up the waters and start a possible bidding war for the top pick.

Ultimately, it seems hard to imagine Dallas giving up the resources necessary to move up to the first pick considering how many needs the team has. Plus, in recent years the team has been more apt to stay put and pick the best player available (a change that most believe is a direct result of the increased role of the team’s Director of Player Personnel Stephen Jones).

Next: Rumor - Carson Wentz is Cowboys' top rated QB

If this was the year 2002, it would be easier to buy this rumor because that was when Jerry Jones was in full riverboat gambler mode. But now, this story comes across as nothing more than a juicy piece of draft fodder that is unlikely to come to fruition.

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