The Dallas Cowboys have two first-round picks at their disposal, but after their 20th overall pick, they won't make another selection until 92nd overall. That can't fly. Cowboys fans have been clamoring for Jerry Jones to pick at 12 and move down from 20 all offseason long, and they're not alone.
While discussing if teams should move up or down on Thursday night, ESPN's Bill Barnwell thinks Dallas should also move down from 20. While Barnwell did not outwardly mock a trade with any specific team or capital in mind, any scenario where they can recoup their lost draft picks works out.
"Adding more young talent to this roster is the only way the Cowboys can build a Super Bowl contender around their big-money group of veterans. And moving down from No. 20 to add more capital would be the right way to get them there."
Even though the Cowboys got some picks out of Micah Parsons and Osa Odighizuwa, the Quinnen Williams and George Pickens deals really set them back from a draft pick perspective. They have no second-rounder and will be without one of their two first-round picks in 2027 because of the Williams trade.
The Dallas Cowboys would be foolish not to trade down from pick No. 20 in the NFL Draft
After Dallas' selection at 12, after which most of the true blue-chip defenders will be gone, there is a drop-off in the prospects available--especially by pick 20. Don't get me wrong, Kayden McDonald, Ahkeem Mesidor, and Colton Hood are good players, but no one worth going crazy for at 20.
Trading back (or out of the first round entirely) offers Dallas the opportunity to recoup the capital they lost in those trades without sacrificing the chance to draft any game-changing prospects. They have enough holes on defense that finding a prospect that'll catch Christian Parker's eye shouldnt be hard.
A 72-pick wait cannot happen, so if they can either get really aggressive and move up, or drop down a few slots and pick up a late second or early third-rounder as well, or move out of the first round entirely and potentially add two top-75 picks. Either of those situations is better than picking a guy you aren't completely sold on at 20.
After the late first round, the quality of prospects in this class plateaus quite a bit to the point where this isn't much of a difference between a player drafted at 35 and 60.
So if Jones is willing to listen to Barnwell and take advantage of the state of the 2026 draft board, the Cowboys would be better off.
Add us as a preferred source on Google