First round of NFL draft may not feature much movement, Cowboys might stick at 12

There may not be a lot of opportunities for the Dallas Cowboys to trade back in the first round.

Odds are you have a favorite option for the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the NFL draft. You have done your homework and feel confident beginning a certain path at number 12 overall.

You have probably also mapped out other paths and like a few that involve not even making a selection at 12 overall. Trading back is always a popular idea when you are picking around this range as accruing more draft picks is never a bad idea.

Consider that the Cowboys moved back in the first round last year. This is not exactly an apples to apples comparison as Dallas was sitting at 24 overall, but they did make a deal with the Detroit Lions to move back five spots to 29 and ultimately took Tyler Guyton while picking up a third-rounder that became Cooper Beebe. That is good business.

A more legitimate comparison could certainly be the last time Dallas was picking this high which was four years ago in 2021. The Cowboys began that draft originally holding the 10th overall pick and we were all very confident that one of Patrick Surtain or Jaycee Horn was going to be doing an introductory press conference with Jerry Jones and Co. the next morning. As fate would have it, the Cowboys were wiped out and we were all screaming for them to trade back. They did!

Dallas moved back with the Philadelphia Eagles who leapfrogged the New York Giants to take DeVonta Smith. That move cost Philly a third-round pick, but they certainly feel it was worth it.

The Cowboys wound up sticking at 12 and took Micah Parsons. The third-round pick in question became Chauncey Golston who just signed with the New York Giants. Interestingly the Giants held the pick between Dallas and Philadelphia in that 2021 first round, although they traded back with the Chicago Bears as they were moving up to take a quarterback in Justin Fields. Fate is a funny thing.

As you can see that sequence four years ago involved a number of trades. Consider that the 12th pick that Dallas used to select Parsons came from Philadelphia, but they picked it up from the Miami Dolphins, and they picked it up from the San Francisco 49ers in the – wait for it – original Trey Lance trade. Fate is indeed a funny thing.

Trades allow for all sorts of madness to unfold, but if reports are to be believed then we may not get that opportunity for fun in two weeks. Dianna Russini noted on Friday that most teams apparently do not want to move up which means that Dallas moving back is an unlikely thing.

Popular verbiage this time of year is “it only takes one” which is meant to prove that all you need is a single club to fall in love with a certain player for a trade to happen. Given that truth, it is possible that the Cowboys find themselves in a position where quarterbacks are falling, or someone who somebody loves the way that Philly did Devonta Smith materializes, and that presents a chance for them to move back.

But we should prepare ourselves for the reality in which the Cowboys sit and pick at 12 overall, which is not a bad thing to be clear. Buckle up and get ready to turn in a draft pick.