IRVING, Texas – ESPN’s Bill Barnwell laid out all of the draft possibilities for the Dallas Cowboys from finding Tony Romo’s successor, taking Ezekiel Elliott and taking a pass rusher. He also mentioned the option of trading down.
With owner and general manager Jerry Jones, that is always a possibility. Anything is possible, really.
But let’s look at trading down.
Among their visitors to Valley Ranch are the normal suspects for the fourth overall pick: Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, Elliott, Joey Bosa, DeForest Buckner and Jalen Ramsey. If they stick at No. 4, it would likely be one of these names.
But the Cowboys have had other first-round possibilities in for visits, which would suggest they would ponder moving down.
Guys such as Paxton Lynch, Shaq Lawson, Vernon Hargreaves and Laquon Treadwell are first-round picks but just not likely at No. 4 overall.
The Cowboys could use more draft picks. Every team could use more draft picks. But in order to move down to acquire more picks, there has to be a player worth grabbing.
Each year you can count quarterback as a player to move up to grab. In the top five, only the Cowboys and Cleveland Browns have high-priority quarterback needs. Would the San Francisco 49ers (seventh) or Philadelphia Eagles (eighth) want to move up to grab a quarterback? Would the Cowboys want to go all the way back to, say, No. 15 and the Los Angeles Rams to make a deal for more picks?
The Cowboys will be open for business.
In case they do move back, they want to be familiar with the names that would be available to them at different areas of the first round or even into the second round.