Things haven’t gone well for the Dallas Cowboys in 2022 NFL free agency, made worse by some of their own decisions, but they’ll have a chance to salve the wound in a major way if they can reel in a top-notch class of prospects in the 2022 NFL Draft in Las Vegas at the end of April. So while they pass the time by announcing an NFL first partnership with cryptocurrency company Blockchain.com versus adding more free agency talent, they’re also finalizing their big board and prepping for the 24th-overall pick in the draft.
That is, of course, if they remain in that spot, because team owner Jerry Jones is already eyeing a possible move north on Day 1 and/or Day 2. Speaking from the press conference to announce the aforementioned cryptocurrency partnership.
“I would trade up in this draft,” said Jones. “Just going in — a much as you can say about it — what’s there and who’s on the other line, but yes, I would trade up since we’re down as low as we are in those first two or three rounds. If we have a chance to and somebody that we really coveted was sitting at the bottom like [former All-Pro center Travis Frederick], who was sitting at the bottom [of the first round] and we were able to trade up and get him.”
For reference, Frederick was the 31st-overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft and the Cowboys were roundly criticized for selecting him in that spot, but he’d go on to have a stellar career that was eventually derailed by his battle with Guillain-Barre syndrome that forced him into retirement following the 2019 season. Not so coincidentally, the Cowboys are again in dire straits on the offensive line, and that means they could certainly look to pull the trigger on grabbing a first-round O-lineman — marking the first time they’ve done so since perennial All-Pro guard Zack Martin got the nod in 2014.
That said, as confessed by Jones, the willingness to trade up isn’t exclusive to the first round (strapped with the 56th- and 88th-overall picks in the second and third round, respectively) so keep an eye on the Cowboys to potentially move up in any of the first several rounds as they try to parlay their current stable of nine picks into a group of talent that leaps the roster forward after having seen it get worse since their unceremonious playoff exit in January and questionable roster moves to now.
Lastly, but equally important, is the fact Jones and the Cowboys traded down in the first round one offseason ago to land phenom linebacker Micah Parsons, and considering how well that worked out, don’t rule out the possibility of a move south in Vegas.
