Cowboys' Stephen Jones: Trading into Round 2 of draft would 'be a challenge'

Yahoo Sports3h ago13 min readOriginal source →

TL;DR

Stephen Jones of the Cowboys stated that trading into Round 2 of the NFL draft would be challenging. The team was active in Round 1, making two trades to adjust their draft position.

Key points

Stephen Jones comments on trading challenges for Round 2
Cowboys were active in the first round of the NFL draft
Dallas swapped picks with Miami to move up one spot
The Cowboys selected Caleb Downs from Ohio State
Two fifth-round picks were given up for the trade

Mentioned in this story

NFL

Dallas CowboysMiami

Cowboys' Stephen Jones: Trading into Round 2 of draft would 'be a challenge'

The Cowboys were remarkably active in the first round of the NFL draft, doing two different deals with teams to move both up and down in the order over the course of Thursday night.

But fans shouldn't expect similar fireworks on Friday.

Dallas first swapped opening-round picks with Miami. The one-spot climb from No. 12 to No. 11 allowed them to take Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, but it cost them two of their fifth-round selections.

Later in the evening, they worked a deal with the division-rival Eagles, trading back to No. 23 so Philadelphia could take wide receiver Makai Lemon at No. 20. That move earned Dallas a pair of fourth-round picks and required giving up their seventh-rounder.

After all the wheeling and dealing, it took the team's total draft capital from 2,326 points (on the Jimmy Johnson chart) to 2,346.1. Entering Friday night, they'll have a long 59-pick wait until they come on the clock again at No. 90.

But making more dramatic moves with those new-found fourth-rounders just to jump into the second round seems unlikely.

"What we don't want to do is give up- because we feel that way philosophically- you don't want to be giving up three and four football players for one player," Cowboys co-owner Stephen Jones said Thursday night as part of the Day 1 press conference.

Based on the numbers, that's what it would take to move into Round 2: the team's lone third-round selection plus at least three- and almost certainly more, maybe all- of their five Day 3 picks.

"Obviously, to have draft capital is helpful," Jones continued, "but it'll be a challenge to get into that second round based on where we sit right now with our picks, not unless you're willing to give up a handful of picks for one player."