The Dallas Cowboys, sporting two first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, have the potential to shape the entire first night.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said from the new league meetings last week that he wouldn’t shy away from making a draft-day trade.
“I’ve looked at that mirror a lot, about how to go up and down and trade and do those kinds of things,” Jones said via the team’s official website. “Absolutely. We’ll entertain improving or an in-draft read on what gives us a better chance to get another player, and still have our pick and the red meat of top players. Now that has an on-the-board aspect to it, but it’s very doable.”
With the Nos. 12 and 20 selections, and still boasting several needs, the Cowboys could go any direction. Jones could stand pat and get two starting-caliber players. He could package his picks and move up to get a top-tier difference maker in what is viewed as a shallow first round. Or, without a second-rounder, he could trade down to amass more picks — this year or next — to continue to plug multiple holes.
“You should — when you’ve got the kind of assets or the kind of ammunition we’ve got in this draft, you should look at all machinations,” he said. “It’s one thing to sit here right now, it’s another thing to sit and look at it three hours into the draft and see what you got there. So all of that is a possibility. This is an obvious statement, but nothing — no amount of skill, no amount of knowledge — can beat having a lot of draft capital, having a lot of picks. That’ll win most of the time.”
How the Cowboys grade out the first round could heavily influence how they use their picks. Back in 2017, in another draft viewed as falling off talent-wise in the first round, the Cowboys selected Taco Charlton at No. 28, a player they admitted they had a second-round grade on at the time. Charlton lasted just two seasons in Dallas and was out of the league after 60 games played. Jones will want to avoid another Taco situation.
If the Cowboys don’t see a ton of options they like at No. 20, trading out of that spot could become a touchstone point of the draft on April 23.
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