Cowboys duping Bills into trading up for Dalton Kincaid is hilarious

The Dallas Cowboys' selection of Mazi Smith took NFL fans by surprise. For what felt like months, draft experts and prognosticators put it stone that Dallas would draft a tight end at No. 26 overall to replace Dalton Schultz.

By the time pick No. 20 rolled around, all the top tight ends were still on the board. Following the run on receivers -- four in a row were drafted by the Seahawks, Chargers, Ravens and Vikings, respectively -- the Cowboys literally had their pick of the tight end litter.

Would it be Utah's Dalton Kincaid, the most dynamic TE in the class? Notre Dame's Michael Mayer, whom many view as the next Jason Witten? What about late-risers Luke Musgrave out of Oregon State or Iowa star Sam LaPorta?

When the dust settled, Dallas beefed up their trenches in Smith. The tight end hoopla was your standard pre-draft smokescreen -- one that belongs in the Hall of Fame after the Bills jumped ahead of the Cowboys for Kincaid.

Cowboys' smokescreen tricked Bills into trading up for Dalton Kincaid

The Bills are likely giddy they got Kincaid, and understandably so as it gives Josh Allen another weapon. Kincaid will essentially be a big slot receiver for Buffalo. If you were watching NFL Network, draft expert Daniel Jeremiah said moments before the pick "If this league allows Dalton Kincaid to go play with Josh Allen it's probably going to get what it deserves."

Again, Allen and Kincaid are a great pairing. The humor lies in the fact Buffalo traded up for a player they likely could've had with their original selection (No. 27 overall). There's no way to know for sure that Dallas would've passed on Kincaid for Smith, but ESPN's Todd Archer believes Smith was the pick all the way.

Cowboys haters will push the narrative that it was Dallas that got bamboozled, but the proof is in the pudding. Archer is as plugged in as anyone on the Cowboys beat. He even admitted Kincaid would've bee a great pick for Dallas.

Most of experts' final mock drafts had the Cowboys going tight end. Jeremiah and ESPN's Todd McShay projected Luke Musgrave to Dallas, while The Athletic's Dane Brugler and ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. mocked Kincaid and NFL Network's Charles Davis had Michael Mayer.

The Cowboys will undoubtedly draft a tight end before the draft is over -- this is being written Friday morning after the first round so they could have one by the time this is published -- but there was zero smoke by the supposed first-round tight end fire and the Bills fell for it.

It only took a fourth-round pick to jump to pick No. 25, but Dallas' braintrust has to be smirking knowing they hoodwinked one of the NFL's finest-run organizations into trading up to take a player they didn't plan on drafting.

That's how it's done.