Dallas Cowboys fans feel fairly confident about what the team will do during the 2026 NFL Draft. Equipped with two huge pieces of ammunition on Night 1 of the event, Jerry Jones and the front office will almost certainly double up on the defensive side of the football.
That is unequivocally the right move for a team that boasts a top-10 offense and is fresh off a season in which they finished at the bottom of the barrel in points allowed and 30th in yards relinquished. Giving first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker every tool he needs will be very critical.
And while the Cowboys' need to pair DeMarvion Overshown with another great linebacker looms large, Dallas doesn't need to do anything crazy to find that in the draft later this month. They certainly don't need to trade both firsts to move up and take Arvell Reese, as a recent mock draft suggested.
The Dallas Cowboys risk it all for Ohio State's Arvell Reese in latest 2026 NFL mock draft
NFL Mocks' Tarringo Basile-Vaughan wrote up his latest mock draft this past weekend, and he had the Cowboys making a major splash. In this exercise, Dallas traded No. 12 and No. 20 in this year's draft, plus a 2027 third-rounder, to the New York Jets in exchange for the No. 2 pick this year.
With that pick, the Cowboys selected Reese, the Ohio State stud... linebacker? Edge rusher? Some combination of both? Here's what Basile-Vaughan had to say about the blockbuster deal to kick things off after the Las Vegas Raiders inevitably take Fernando Mendoza.
"The Dallas Cowboys have been rumored to be eyeing the No. 3 overall pick, but the shock here is that Jerry Jones and crew really push the ball and land the No. 2 overall pick in an eye-opening block buster trade with the New York Jets. The draft day trade shocks the board and gives the Jets three first round picks in the top 20 in this draft.Â
With the No. 2 overall pick, the Cowboys get their next Michah Parsons type talent in Arvell Reese to fits two of the Cowboys’ needs. He can get after the passer and he has elite talent at the linebacker position."
It is a solid point that Reese could end up being another Parsons for the Dallas defense. But in the event that he isn't, as finding a player of that caliber is rare, the Cowboys would be giving up far too much for a player whose positional value isn't all that high.
Off-ball linebackers, if that is where Reese ends up playing, are hardly worth the No. 2 overall pick, let alone two first-rounders and a third-rounder. If he's an edge rusher, Reese would have to be utterly generational to be better than two first-round defenders combined.
Dallas' defense isn't one piece away, as this trade may make some think. They could use reinforcements at every level, and without a Round 2 pick, they'd be better off making two picks in the top 20 and grabbing some combination of an edge rusher, cornerback and safety.
This year's draft class doesn't have that many "stars," so it is intriguing to think about a world where the Cowboys land one. But this draft is chock full of starting-level players, particularly on the defensive line and in the secondary, where Dallas needs the most help.
Having more draft picks to build out the defense should be Jones' priority, not simply landing the best possible player he can on Day 1. Should the Cowboys actually employ this strategy, they'd have 90 picks in between their first and second selection. That's not good team building.
I suppose one can never say never, as the NFL proves every day to be a wildly unpredictable league, and Dallas, in particular, is led by the ultimate wild card. But if the Cowboys pull off this insane trade, it isn't likely to be the best thing for the franchise, proving this wholly unnecessary.
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