<
        >

          Dallas Cowboys

          Cowboys not trying to move to No. 2

          • Calvin Watkins, ESPN Staff WriterApr 9, 2014, 09:00 AM ET
            Close
              Calvin Watkins covers the Houston Rockets and the NBA for ESPN.com. He joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He's covered the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers as well as colleges, boxing and high school sports.
            Follow on X

          The St. Louis Rams are looking to trade the No. 2 overall pick in next month's draft.

          Don't count the Cowboys as an interested party.

          Multiple sources have said the Cowboys aren't trying to move up from No. 16 to No. 2.

          However, the sources did say the Cowboys would be willing to make a move up if it were able to obtain an elite player who can fill an immediate hole.

          The last time the Cowboys moved into the top 10 via trade was 2012 when they moved eight spots to No. 6 and selected LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne.

          At the time, Cowboys' officials said Claiborne graded out as high as Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.

          With the No. 16 pick overall, there appears to be just one player worth moving up into the top five and that's South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. There are some good quarterbacks in the draft, including Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles, but team officials don't project them being worth worth a move with Tony Romo locked up for the future.

          The Cowboys have needs on defense, after finishing No. 32 last season, but the team signed three defensive linemen in free agency, headlined by tackle Henry Melton.

          Jerry Jones, the Cowboys owner/general manager, said the team is open to picking a defensive player in the first round.

          "Yeah and it's because I think we're in better shape to compete position wise on offense, our skill position, frankly our offensive line," Jones said. "Last year, we drafted a player like (tight end Gavin) Escobar. Escobar will and needs to become an important part of our offense. That's an example and we saw in (wide receiver Dwayne) Harris and we saw the playmaking ability and got the benefit of the playmaking ability that he has. We've got some playmakers, we got skill players. We got a good sound offensive line. We're in good shape on the offensive line is the best way to say it. The defense, is obvious. We need players and there's only two ways to go get them, that's through free agency, that's bring them in the different types of free agents that you have and the draft and that's what we're doing."